Offensive
Mercy is being reposted for Monday's
Gospel reading: Gospel Reading for Monday, October 29th
Gospel Luke 13:10-17
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on
the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, "Woman, you are set free of your infirmity." He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, "There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day." The Lord said to him in reply, "Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?" When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, "There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day." The Lord said to him in reply, "Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?" When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
Offensive Mercy:
Some people treat animals better
than their own kind. Sin has a way of making certain people loathe their own
country, their own religion and even their own species. Only people are capable
of hating themselves in this fashion.
The Pharisees in the first century
professed to have love for their nation of Israel and Judaism, their own
religion. But by putting so much emphasis on their own religious laws, many of
them man-made, they lost sight of the dignity of the human person. Quite often,
enforcing such laws came at the expense of the lowly. Our Lord reminded the
religious elders of his day that religion and its laws were made for man and
not the other way around. There can be a temptation with the leaders of any
institution- especially the Church or the State -to view their subjects as
their own servants. Hence, the high office they assume ends up being used as an
instrument of power instead of an opportunity to serve. Today, this mentality
among the upper echelon is referred to as the "ruling class" or the
"establishment."
The impressive thing to consider
with the Gospel passage is that Jesus healed "a woman...who for eighteen
years had been crippled by a spirit." In doing so, he had to anticipate
the opposition and hostility of the Pharisees that would inevitably result. It
would be just one more excuse for the enemies of our Lord to find fault with
him. With each humiliation and insult, the religious elders would eventually
make their case to Pilate that Jesus of Nazareth had to go! But our Lord healed
the woman anyways! He pitied this lowly daughter of Abraham and lifted her up.
And to be sure, she was never the same. What gratitude this infirmed and
oppressed woman would have for Jesus! And what admiration she would have for
his courage to defy some man-made rule that forbade her healing on the Sabbath;
and to top it off, to take the heat by the Pharisees because of it.
Jesus shows that doing an act of
mercy- even when the benefits are obvious -will, on occasion, anger important
people. When conformity to the establishment norms are not forthcoming, there
might be hell to pay by those in authority! Nevertheless, our Lord illustrates
that there is a difference between obedience to just laws and conformity to
norms which are contrary to God's law. As to the latter, every pope who has
written on the subject bids the Christian to practice non-conformity; even if
it comes at a high price.
No one knows this better than St. Mary MacKillop who was
canonized in 2010. She is "Australia's first native saint and co-founder
of its first congregation of women religious. She also was briefly
excommunicated." "At the urging of some clergy," The Compass
Newspaper reports, "Bishop Sheil excommunicated Mary and dispensed 47
sisters from their vows. The priests were annoyed both by the sisters'
independence and their allegation of child abuse by Fr. Patrick Keating, who
was sent back to Ireland." The excommunication lasted five months.
However, upon Bishop Sheil's deathbed, he lifted the excommunication. Saint
Mary MacKillop did not conform to the silence that was expected of her. An injustice
was being done and as a consequence she was inspired to do something about it.
Like our Lord, she did just that and paid the price. Indeed, her merciful act
in protecting children from abuse was offensive to some. But she was vindicated
and is now celebrated by the Church Universal as a hero.
