Hi everyone, here is the reflection that I will be giving at the nursing home tomorrow. I hope you enjoy it. There are some things that I may or may not change, and if I do I will post an updated version. As I ussually do, the readings for the day are below the reflection, incase you are interested.
Peace,
Adam
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Jesus heals, Jesus turns water into wine, Jesus raises people from the dead, but most importantly Jesus saves. He saves us from the evils of the sins we have committed.
When does he do this?
WHENEVER WE NEED IT!!
Many people have pointed to this Gospel reading, and the one we heard yesterday about the disciples of Jesus picking grain on the Sabbath to eat, as a way to show that the rules of faith don’t matter. Those people would be wrong in reading this in that way.
Jesus isn’t telling us to disregard the teachings; in fact, I think that he is telling us just the opposite, that the teachings on loving one another and providing for another’s needs are also in play.
Jesus was concerned about the Sabbath rule and didn’t want to ignore it. However, He wanted to make the point that the Law was to be applied in a loving way.
In the first reading today we find the story describing the priest Melchizedek. It talks about another priest who is to be raised up “not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.” This obviously refers to Christ, but did you know that it also applies to you, and to me. You all know that Matt here and I are studying to become priests, but we all are already priests.
When we were all Baptized we were Baptized to be priests, prophets, and kings. We are kings in our inheritance of the eternal kingdom, we are prophets in that we are supposed to talk to others about our God and our faith, and we are priests in our service to God and his people.
A priest isn’t just one who knows about the faith, it is one who serves, and we all do that and are supposed to do that, it is what we are called to do through our Baptism. Jesus shows us the example of this in the Gospel. He was doing good to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath, but he saw the need of his ultimate priesthood to serve someone in need.
You and I may not have the power to work great miracles as Jesus did, but we need to think about what we can do in service of our God and our fellow children of God. We need to do these things whenever we are able. How are you able to help one another through your priesthood of the Baptized and from the example that our Lord gave to us.
Reading 1
Heb 7:1-3, 15-17
Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High,
met Abraham as he returned from his defeat of the kings
and blessed him.
And Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything.
His name first means righteous king,
and he was also “king of Salem,” that is, king of peace.
Without father, mother, or ancestry,
without beginning of days or end of life,
thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
It is even more obvious if another priest is raised up
after the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become so,
not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent
but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
For it is testified:
You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Gospel
Mk 3:1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
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