Yes, people should keep the Sabbath holy. But people should also do what’s right and compassionate. In the first reading we are told that we should be nice to each other. We should be kind and decent to each other and help others as we are able. We should not bicker or argue but be compassionate and forgiving. We should love each other like God loves us, like Christ loves us.
The Sabbath is holy. People should definitely reserve time for God. We spend so much of our time on our own things and for our own purposes. Many people work for their own purposes and to make money for themselves. We should give up some portion of our time to God. People should also get a day off, but sometimes there are more important issues than taking time off. Sometimes things just have to be done. Hospitals have to stay open all the time. There are always sick people who need care. Someone has to be working at the hospital on Sundays. Police departments, fire departments cannot close up on the weekends. There are emergencies that need to be dealt with in a timely manner. People who get sick on a weekend and need emergency care should not be told to come back Monday (if they’re still alive) because doctors and nurses can’t work on the Sabbath. A house that catches fire on a Sunday will burn down if the fire truck can’t come until Monday. Our lives are different now, and a lot of businesses are open every day that are not in the emergency business, but even in Jesus’ time, people knew that some things just need done and can’t wait. On the Sabbath, the farmers still feed and water their animals, and they take the animals out of their yokes.
When Jesus heals a woman on the Sabbath the leader of the synagogue is angry that he worked on the Sabbath. There are six other days when the woman could be healed and she should come back on a different day. This woman had been sick for many years, so I suppose one more day might not have mattered that much, but why should she have to wait one more day? Animals would not be denied their exercise and food on the Sabbath. Should this woman be denied her healing? Sometimes things just have to be done. And sometimes it’s more important to do the right thing – the kind and compassionate thing-- than to just follow the rules.
Tamora Whitney
I teach in the English department. I teach composition and literature and Critical Issues -- a class that has a component on Jesuit values.
I like writing these reflections because it makes me think more deeply about the scripture and think about how to integrate the ideas into my own life and how to share these ideas with others.
