THEY COULD FIND NO ANSWER

PRAYER MOMENT 

Friday 31 October 2014

THEY COULD FIND NO ANSWER

                     

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Which of you here, if his son falls into a well, or his ox, will not pull him out on a Sabbath day without hesitation?” And to this they could find no answer. (Luke 14:1-6)

Reflection. Bafflement! They did not know what to make of him. Who is this man who defies the leaders? He cures on the Sabbath and they have nothing to say. We are reminded, when we read the scriptures, that they are always fresh. We may feel, ‘I know this passage’, and we pass on saying to ourselves subconsciously, ‘there is nothing special here.’ The challenge is always to read the bible afresh, aware that there is always something new that has not struck us before. Here, for example, we might notice the astonishment of the listeners at this meal in the house of “the leading Pharisees.” We can sense the tension in the air as these leaders are challenged – and have no answer. It is obvious you rescue your child from danger on the Sabbath. And yet the whole pharisaic tradition is now under threat from this man. What is going on? Could it really be that a new age is being announced?  

Prayer. Lord, teach us always to see the “freshness deep down things” (Hopkins). Help us to wonder at the words we read, savour them and draw life from them. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ