Gospel (Lk 6:6-11)

On another sabbath, when Jesus entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” And he looked around on them all, and said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.

But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Commentary

This Gospel passage shows us, once again, the contrast between Jesus’ heart and that of those around him. The scribes and Pharisees present there “watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him.” They stand before God incarnate, and are about to witness a manifestation of Jesus’ divinity. And yet they observe him closely in order to have something to accuse him of.

Sometimes God’s action in our own lives can resemble what we see in this Gospel passage. We have an idea, a scheme of how our encounter with God should take place, of how our life should unfold and, on some occasions, the lives of the people we love. But our Lord not only fails to adapt to our preconceptions, to our plans, but often breaks them and shatters them on the ground. In these situations, we can become upset if we lose sight of the fact that our God is a living God and that He infinitely surpasses our own plans.

We have to ask our Lord for the humility needed to let Him act in our lives as He wants, to let Him break our schemes and plans. In those moments it can help us to ask ourselves: what does God want from me by allowing this? What is He looking for in me in these circumstances or events in which I don’t know how to act or how to direct them to God?

It shouldn’t surprise us that we don’t understand God, that we don’t understand why he leads our lives in a certain way, why he allows certain things to happen to me or to the people I love. Our Lady didn’t always understand Jesus’ way of acting, but she meditated on these things in her heart. Let us ask Mary to teach us to imitate her in the desire to accept God’s will in everything that happens in our life.