WATER ON TH SABBATH

PRAYER MOMENT   (a bit late today, apologies!)                     

Monday 27 October 2014

WATER ON TH SABBATH

                     

Pause. Be still in God’s presence.

Reading: “Hypocrites! Is there one of you who does not untie his ox or his donkey from the manger on the Sabbath and take it out for watering?” (Luke 13:10-17)

Reflection. These words of Jesus were used in the recent Synod in Rome to focus attention on the call the Church is facing to show compassion, for example, to re-married divorced people who want to receive the sacraments, while at the same time upholding the teaching on the indissolubility of marriage. Pope Francis has faced the tension squarely that the Church has inherited through her interpretation of the gospel teaching on marriage and on mercy. The Sabbath had a purpose: it was a day of rest when Israel would recall its covenant relationship with God through thanks and praise. What that meant was laid out in some regulations which had hardened into becoming laws to control the people – something that was never the intention of the Sabbath. So too with our rules concerning marriage: the Church invites us to set out on the road of mercy and discover how this can be displayed while also safeguarding the teaching on marriage..  

Prayer. Lord, we tend to settle for law rather than compassion. Lead us into the ways of mercy while at the same time helping us to safeguard our inheritance. Amen..  

David Harold-Barry SJ