Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

We hear the Gospel stories again and again. Some of them become so familiar that we tend to give them a mental nod of recognition and file them away in the “reference” section of our memory. That’s our “go to google” place to check when something sounds vaguely familiar.

Today’s story of the Pharisees reprimanding Jesus when they observe some of his disciples stripping a few kernels from standing wheat along the walking path is a case in point. We get the picture pretty quickly. It ranks up there with making a mountain out of a molehill. The physical action of stripping a few kernels to eat rang alarm bells for the super-sensitive Pharisees. They went on full alert, not just because it was forbidden by their strict interpretation of the laws of the Sabbath, but they had their own agenda in dealing with Jesus as a threat to their authority.

Here again, Jesus uses this as a teachable moment to point to striving for the greater good and intention of the law. First of all, Jesus points to the historical record of how King David and his companions in distress ate restricted bread in the temple. And secondly, the lesson applies to us today. Mercy is our first and highest experience of the power and presence of God. No matter when and how we experience the authority of law, mercy, and justice must always complement one another to show the presence of truth. Are we willing to stand up, privately and publicly, for that truth?

Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB