Reflection for MONDAY, 23rd Week, Ordinary Time.

By

Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar


Today's Gospel Reading 

 Luke 6:6-11 

 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. 

 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored.  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.


Today's Reflection 

We all know that we have this capacity for charity within us.

That is not surprising because our hearts are created by God and created with love.

Hence, it is almost by instinct that we want to help others in their need.

But what has suppressed this capacity and instinct to be charitable is the sinful human condition.

That condition is not just around us but also has affected us within.

In the gospel, there was this man with the withered hand.

The scribes and Pharisees could see that man, and they could see that Jesus would probably cure that man of his withered hand.

But the scribes and Pharisees chose to watch Jesus and to see if they could find something to use against Him.

Jesus rose above the scheming eyes and minds and reached out to cure the man with the withered hand.

As we reflect on the gospel passage, we are reminded that we are affected by the sinful condition and that has suppressed our capacity for charity.

But let us judge less and help more. 

We are created with love. Let us choose to love and increase our capacity for charity.

 Saint of the day 

 September 5 | St. Teresa of Calcutta 

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the tiny woman recognized throughout the world for her work among the poorest of the poor, was beatified October 19, 2003. Among those present were hundreds of Missionaries of Charity, the order she founded in 1950, as a diocesan religious community. Today the congregation also includes contemplative sisters and brothers and an order of priests.

Born to Albanian parents in what is now Skopje, Macedonia, Gonxha (Agnes) Bojaxhiu was the youngest of the three children who survived. For a time, the family lived comfortably, and her father’s construction business thrived. But life changed overnight following his unexpected death.

During her years in public school, Agnes participated in a Catholic sodality and showed a strong interest in the foreign missions. At age 18, she entered the Loreto Sisters of Dublin. It was 1928 when she said goodbye to her mother for the final time and made her way to a new land and a new life. The following year she was sent to the Loreto novitiate in Darjeeling, India. There she chose the name Teresa and prepared for a life of service. She was assigned to a high school for girls in Calcutta, where she taught history and geography to the daughters of the wealthy. But she could not escape the realities around her—the poverty, the suffering, the overwhelming numbers of destitute people.


  GOD BLESS YOU

Good morning. Have a nice day.

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.