Homily- Friday of the 15th
Week of Ordinary Time, Yr, B- Fr. Udoekpo, U
v Isa
38:1-6,21-22, 7-8
v Ps.
Isa 38:10,11,12abcd,16
v Matt
12:1-8
The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath!
All that we have, our being, health and livelihood,
creation and neighbor-creatures belong to God. This is true in Jesus response
to the Pharisees allegations that Jesus’ disciples were doing unlawful things
on the Sabbath, by picking and eating grains on the Jewish Sabbath (shabath).
It is true that God rested on the seventh day(Sabbath) after
creation(Gene 2:2) and Sabbath has remained one of the a days of religious
observance and abstinence from work, by
Jews from Friday evening to Saturday evening, and by most Christians on Sundays(so
to say). It has continue to take on new meanings, especially of justice and mercy,
even during the time of the Deutero-Isaiah, since laws in ancient Israel were
constantly adapted to the circumstances of the time.. Be it in the Jewish or
Christian community, the point Jesus is making, by “for the Son of Man is the
Lord of the Sabbath” is faith and reason, and the need to discourage extreme
legalism and lack of charity in our faith and religious community( Mark 2:28
and Luke 6:5). Importantly that is why our Lord quotes Hosea 6:6” I desire
mercy, not sacrifice” (Matt 12:1-8).
In
other words, our religious practices, sacrifices, worship gestures, songs,
music, pilgrimages must not be devoid of social justice, reaching out to the
poor, the needy, the elderly, the marginalized and of course those sick, especially
in this time of corona virus pandemic(cf. Amos 5 as well).
This is why in today’s first reading,
carefully selected to rhyme with this theme of mercy and sacrifice Matt
12:1-8), Hezekiah one of good Kings in the History of Israel is rewarded with
God’s healing mercy (Isaiah 38). Hezekiah, unlike Manasseh, and other idolatrous
Kings, was “wholeheartedly faithful to the Lord.” He conducted himself before
the Lord, doing what was pleasing to the Lord, including being merciful to his
fellow community members. God saved his live, because is not only the Lord of
the Sabbath, but he is a merciful God.
We
in turn in our respective positions and communities are expected trust in God’s
rulership and sovereignty. He is the
source of all that we have are. We are to use our God’s given potential,
positions of authorities for the service of one another, with mercy and
humility. And perhaps this is why Pope Francis when he was chosen to the position
of an authority as the Auxiliary Bishop… his chosen motto was miserando
atque elegendo (because he saw him through the eyes of mercy, he chose
him), drawn from that gospel episode of Matthew 9:9-13. He would later declared
a full year of his papacy as the year of divine mercy (2016), when at the end
he issued the documents, “miserecordia et misera”(mercy and misery)
As
we enforce rules and orders, justice, peace, mercy should also be our guiding
principles, since God in his nature is merciful as expressed in today’s scriptures, and in other various
passages of the Bible (Exod 34:6-7; Pss 85:1-2; 103:8-12; Neh 9:17; Joel 2:13;
Jonah 4:2; Isaiah 38:17; Micah 7:18-20).
Reflection Questions
1.
Could we think of
moments when we allowed legalism instead justice and mercy to guide our
decision
2.
In our worship
centers how much space and room do we give to the poor, the needy, and the less
privileged
3.
In this time of
pandemic, could we think of members of our communities of neighborhoods we have
shown mercy in one way or the other?
