Doing Good On The Lord’s Day
Introduction
David and Goliath! A boy and a giant professional military leader. Often in the Bible, the weak are more powerful than the strong. What is weak and small attracts God’s strength. It is not really the underdog who beats the bragging man of violence, but God who makes his greatness known, for he is the God and Saviour of his people. The battle is His.
We sometimes reduce our religion to a matter of casuistic laws: Is it permitted to heal on Sundays? Is it wrong if I do not raise my hands for the Our Father? We sometimes behave like kids. God wants us to grow up in our faith. Where is the Good News of Jesus? Where is our love for the Lord and for people?
1 Reading: 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51
David spoke to Saul: “Let your majesty not lose courage. I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.” But Saul answered David, “You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him, for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.” David continued: “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.” Saul answered David, “Go! the LORD will be with you.” Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag. With his sling also ready to hand, he approached the Philistine. With his shield bearer marching before him, the Philistine also advanced closer and closer to David. When he had sized David up, and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance, the Philistine held David in contempt. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods and said to him, “Come here to me, and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.” David answered him: “You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted. Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand; I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will leave your corpse and the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God. All this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves. For the battle is the LORD’s and he shall deliver you into our hands.” The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters, while David ran quickly toward the battle line in the direction of the Philistine. David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone, hurled it with the sling, and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone embedded itself in his brow, and he fell prostrate on the ground. Thus David overcame the Philistine with sling and stone; he struck the Philistine mortally, and did it without a sword. Then David ran and stood over him; with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath he dispatched him and cut off his head.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 144:1b, 2, 9-10
R. (1) Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war. R.
My refuge and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust,
who subdues my people under me. R.
O God, I will sing a new song to you;
with a ten-stringed lyre I will chant your praise,
You who give victory to kings,
and deliver David, your servant from the evil sword. R.
Alleluia See Matthew 4:23
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mark 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.
Commentary
Most of us know the story of David and Goliath. We probably learned it at an early age in our religion class. Who do you think is the true victor, David or the Philistine? The answer is “Neither.” It is God who is the hero. On the human level, Goliath has the upper hand in terms of skill and size. He scoffs at the shepherd boy who has been sent to oppose him. Yet he is felled by a stone from David’s sling. David overcomes his adversary because God wills it.
When our favoured team loses in football, we try to justify the loss. Our defender was injured in the first half. Or our team was affected by two preceding losses. Whatever the reason, the loss stands. In the biblical narrative, we are often invited to see the hand of God at work. And very often it is a case of God making greatness out of nothing. Human agents become secondary when the hand of God is in the ascendancy.
When Jesus appears in the synagogue, his opponents are already prepared to kill him. At this point in Mark’s Gospel it appears to be very early for such a violent reaction. It should be remembered that, in assembling his material, the evangelist is not usually following a time sequence. What may have occurred later in Jesus’ ministry is drawn here, where the context is a series of events dealing with opposition to Jesus.
For Jesus there is no doubt about the rightness of performing a good deed on the Sabbath. He does not hesitate to heal regardless of the reaction. Respect for Sunday rest is a good thing; to look upon it slavishly is not.
Blessing
When did you visit me? Perhaps, the best day to visit our brother Jesus in the sick is Sunday, the day of the Lord! Bring God’s healing to people, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!