The Holy Gospel according to Luke 13:10-17
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
Reflection: Ok, let’s be honest … we all judge and we sometimes do it even when we think we are not doing it. In today’s Gospel, Jesus wants to redirect us from the road we are heading down and help to free us of this heavy burden of judgement and hypocrisy. Seeing these tendencies and admitting to it is very important and is the first step toward the virtue which is opposite of being judgmental. The virtue is mercy.
I would like to think that if anyone us saw a woman anywhere that slumped over from pain, that we would immediately console her and try to help her. Right?! It wouldn’t matter if it was the Sabbath or any other day, feast day, holiday, memorial etc.
If discouragement is your immediate reaction to this calling from Jesus, try to look at others from a new perspective. Try to suspend judgment toward them, especially against those who have and continue to hurt you the most. It’s not your place to judge; it’s your place only to love and to see others as the children of God. If you dwell upon another’s hurtful actions, angry feelings will inevitably arise. But if you strive only to see them as children of God whom you are called to love without reserve, then even feelings of love will more easily arise within you, helping you to fulfill this glorious command.
Serving God must (will) become the deepest joy of our lives, not a heavy burden. If you find your Christian walk more of a burden, then turn your eyes away from yourself and look to the merciful God. Run to Him with the utmost confidence of a child and allow yourself to love Him more authentically, freed of scrupulous and self-imposed burdens.
Judgmentalism destroys relationships. It destroys the positive outcome of our day. Whether you are judged or being judged, you can choose not to perpetuate the cycle. You can see yourself as worthy of love as well as other people, and rest in the knowledge that there is enough love to go around. You can make space for your own vulnerabilities and others’ vulnerabilities, maybe including judgmentalism. When we practice kindness for others, we also find more space to extend it to ourselves. Extending some kindness does not diminish us; instead, it makes the world that we exist in a better place to be.
Action of the Day: We have had to deal with these heavy burdens from time to time. Do you worry in an irrational way about sin? Do you ever find yourself obsessing over decisions, worrying that you may make the wrong one? Do you think about yourself far more than you think about God and others? If so, you may also be carrying a similar heavy burden that our Lord wants to lift.
Audio Reflection:
