Saint Luke 6, 1-5: The disciples pluck ears of corn on the Sabbath.
In today’s Gospel we see that the discussion is about Saturday. Jesus appreciated the Sabbath and, as a good Jew, had incorporated it into his spirituality: for example, he went every week to the synagogue, to pray and to listen to the Word of God with others. And it surely met the other rules relating to this day. Well lived, Saturday was and still is a sacramental day of true grace for the Jews. But what Jesus criticizes here is an exaggerated interpretation of the Sabbath rest: how can it be contrary to the will of God to take some ears of corn, scrub them and eat their grains, when you feel hungry?
The argument that he makes is the example of David and his men, to whom the priest of the sanctuary gave them to eat «sacred loaves», although in principle they were not to be eaten that way (1 Samuel 21). Jesus really speaks with authority and power. He dares to reinterpret one of the most sacred institutions of his people. But above all the Pharisees must have known very badly the last statement: «The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.» It is difficult wisdom to distinguish between what is important and what is not. Keeping Saturday as a day of worship to God, a day of rest in his honour, a day of nature, a day of peace and family life, a day of inner liberation, was important. That there was no work on Saturday at harvest was one thing, but that it was not possible to take and eat a few grains when passing through the field was an exaggerated interpretation. It was not worth arguing and losing peace over it. It is an example of what Jesus told us yesterday about the new cloth and the new wineskins.
How many occasions do we have, in our community life, to apply this principle? How many times do we lose our serenity and humour because of these nonsense, clinging to unimportant trifles. What is designed for the good of the people and so that they can puff up their spirits – such as the celebration of Christian Sunday – we can become, by our casuistry and intransigence, into rules that take away the joy of the spirit. Sunday is a day that has to be all of it, its twenty-four hours, a day of joy for the victory of Christ and for our own liberation. With the communal Eucharist in the middle, but with a liberated and joyful spirit: a paschal spirit. Exaggerated legalism can also kill the Christian spirit. Above all, there must be mercy, love.
Peace and good
Fr. Antonio Majeesh George Kallely, OFM
