Gospel (Lk 6:1-5)
On a sabbath, while Jesus was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath?” And Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?”
And he said to them, “The Son of man is lord of the sabbath.”
Commentary
The Gospel for today’s Mass, like yesterday’s, recounts another controversy between some Pharisees and Jesus. These controversies revolved around fundamental elements of the Jewish religion and Jesus is very interested in purifying their way of understanding them. When God asked the people of Israel to observe the Sabbath (and he did so in a particularly solemn way), he did not impose a burden on them, but rather gave them a gift. For the law of God is not an imposition but a grace, a special help given to those who want to love in a special way. But the gift is inferior to the Giver. If we do not care for God’s gifts and go more deeply into their meaning, we could diminish the Giver and make him inferior to his gift.
For Christians, the Sunday precept is a gift. The requirement to dedicate this day in a special way to the central role of the Eucharist Sacrifice and to give thanks to God through our rest and festivity is not an imposition. Rather it is an encouragement for us to reflect on the reality that everything that exists is a gift from God so that we may care for it, which we will do only if we are grateful for it. At the same time, when this world passes away, the one who will remain is the Lord, our true Rest, not Sunday, because Sunday is at the service of the Lord. That is its true meaning.
God encourages the Pharisees not to get caught up in precepts, no matter how important they seem, and neglect the most fundamental one, the one that sums up the entire law: to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourself. If we truly love God with our whole heart, we will observe the Sunday precept joyfully and understand its true meaning. Jesus is also addressing us through these controversies, and asks us to put sincere love into our actions. Let us not be people who fulfil precepts only externally. But loving sincerely is not easy, because it means being ready to serve others wholeheartedly: “I have come not to be served, but to serve” (Mt 20:28).