Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel, Jesus poses a question to the Pharisees that I found to be very profound. He says, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” This is profound to me because it is easy to see the good he is talking about—healing the man with the withered hand—but what is the evil? How would the life of the man with the withered hand be lost and even destroyed? The evil that Jesus mentions here is the lack of action, the ignoring the man in need and not restoring his life.
We can destroy the lives of those around us by neglecting, ignoring, or not showing them compassion. I think that this destroys life because, through our inaction, we refuse to see the humanity that lies before us. This person is precious in the eyes of God and therefore should be precious in our eyes too. Jesus, the King of Peace and the Priest of Righteousness, brings peace and righteousness to all by caring for the man in need; he shows them his humanity. When we care for someone in need, both in small and great ways, we not only help the person in need; but by our care and compassion, for them, we show those around us their humanity and bring the Peace and Righteousness of Christ into the world.
Reflection by Br. Placid Dale, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections