Reading 1
Col 1:24–2:3
Brothers and sisters:
I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his Body, which is the Church,
of which I am a minister
in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me
to bring to completion for you the word of God,
the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.
But now it has been manifested to his holy ones,
to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles;
it is Christ in you, the hope for glory.
It is he whom we proclaim,
admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
For this I labor and struggle,
in accord with the exercise of his power working within me.
For I want you to know how great a struggle I am having for you
and for those in Laodicea
and all who have not seen me face to face,
that their hearts may be encouraged
as they are brought together in love,
to have all the richness of assured understanding,
for the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Gospel
Lk 6:6-11
On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught,
and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up and stand before us.”
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Meditation: Luke 6:6-11
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, anger is a strong response to a perceived threat or injustice.
Anger, he taught, is not sinful when the perceived injustice is real and when the response is controlled and in proportion to the injustice. Anger can even be a good thing if it moves us to fight for good and to resist evil. But if we let anger control us, we can become so obsessed with the offense that we lose objectivity and end up ill equipped to deal with whatever got us angry in the first place.
This seems to have been the case with the scribes and Pharisees. Luke tells us they became furious at Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath. In their eyes, an injustice was committed—Jesus broke the Jewish Sabbath restrictions—and a response was necessary. However, Jesus’ actions in no way justified their plotting to put him to death. Something was out of order.
Why did they feel so threatened? It has been said that we all tend to fear something new—especially if we don’t understand what the new thing is. The scribes and Pharisees had built a well-organized world based on ancient and cherished rituals, and Jesus seemed to be turning everything upside down. They focused so much on their fear of this new thing that they failed to recognize the healing power of God in their midst. As a consequence, they lost all objectivity.
We all become angry at times. There may even be times when we lose control of our emotions. When we feel anger rising up within us, let’s be careful not to give it full rein over us. Let’s also be careful not to bottle it up and let it eat away at us. Rather, let’s step back for a moment, examine the situation that has made us angry, and ask the Holy Spirit to help us act only in ways that restore justice and peace. Let’s ask him for the courage to stand up against wrongdoing and the compassion to love those who are offending us. Let’s become like Jesus, who did know anger but never sinned.
“Father, free me from any self-righteous attitudes that separate me from you. Lord, you are just and merciful. Pierce my heart with your truth so that I can become more and more like Jesus.”
Colossians 1:24–2:3; Psalm 62:6-7,9
Col 1:24–2:3
Brothers and sisters:
I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his Body, which is the Church,
of which I am a minister
in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me
to bring to completion for you the word of God,
the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.
But now it has been manifested to his holy ones,
to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles;
it is Christ in you, the hope for glory.
It is he whom we proclaim,
admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
For this I labor and struggle,
in accord with the exercise of his power working within me.
For I want you to know how great a struggle I am having for you
and for those in Laodicea
and all who have not seen me face to face,
that their hearts may be encouraged
as they are brought together in love,
to have all the richness of assured understanding,
for the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Gospel
Lk 6:6-11
On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught,
and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up and stand before us.”
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Meditation: Luke 6:6-11
According to St. Thomas Aquinas, anger is a strong response to a perceived threat or injustice.
Anger, he taught, is not sinful when the perceived injustice is real and when the response is controlled and in proportion to the injustice. Anger can even be a good thing if it moves us to fight for good and to resist evil. But if we let anger control us, we can become so obsessed with the offense that we lose objectivity and end up ill equipped to deal with whatever got us angry in the first place.
This seems to have been the case with the scribes and Pharisees. Luke tells us they became furious at Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath. In their eyes, an injustice was committed—Jesus broke the Jewish Sabbath restrictions—and a response was necessary. However, Jesus’ actions in no way justified their plotting to put him to death. Something was out of order.
Why did they feel so threatened? It has been said that we all tend to fear something new—especially if we don’t understand what the new thing is. The scribes and Pharisees had built a well-organized world based on ancient and cherished rituals, and Jesus seemed to be turning everything upside down. They focused so much on their fear of this new thing that they failed to recognize the healing power of God in their midst. As a consequence, they lost all objectivity.
We all become angry at times. There may even be times when we lose control of our emotions. When we feel anger rising up within us, let’s be careful not to give it full rein over us. Let’s also be careful not to bottle it up and let it eat away at us. Rather, let’s step back for a moment, examine the situation that has made us angry, and ask the Holy Spirit to help us act only in ways that restore justice and peace. Let’s ask him for the courage to stand up against wrongdoing and the compassion to love those who are offending us. Let’s become like Jesus, who did know anger but never sinned.
“Father, free me from any self-righteous attitudes that separate me from you. Lord, you are just and merciful. Pierce my heart with your truth so that I can become more and more like Jesus.”
Colossians 1:24–2:3; Psalm 62:6-7,9
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