TUESDAY 21 JANUARY
Mark 2, 23-28:
“The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.”
In Jesus’ time, Jewish rules and laws had become so strict that they stifled the very life of man.
The norm was fulfilled for the sake of the norm without realizing that the spirit of every law must be the defense of the dignity of the human person.
The precept of keeping the Sabbath had come to such an extreme that even to save a man’s life on the Sabbath was a transgression of the law.
Jesus teaches us the value of every human person, whoever they may be, whatever colour they may be, whatever age they may be, whatever race they may be.
We all have our own little rules that sometimes prevent us from giving ourselves totally to others and from having a positive relationship with them.
Personal rules that make us judge others, that prevent us from leaving our pleasant tranquillity, that prevent us from generous and disinterested service to our brothers and sisters and, in short, rules that make us intransigent and unsympathetic to others.
Once again, learn from Jesus today. Ask him for a compassionate and merciful heart like his, so that in it is, first of all, your brother and sister and not incomprehension and intransigence.
Good day.
Antonio Maria Sanjuan Marin, cmf
