Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
October 29, 2021Readings (Click here to read in full)
Reading I: Rom 9:1-5
Responsorial Psalm: Ps147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
Gospel: Lk 14:1-6
Reading I: Rom 9:1-5
Responsorial Psalm: Ps147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
Gospel: Lk 14:1-6
In today’s Gospel, Jesus once again broke the Jewish Law on the Sabbath: He healed a man with a dropsy. It is interesting to note that this happened during one of the meals of Jesus. These meals give lessons about the Eucharist. I see three lessons in our Gospel today:
- The Pharisees and the "learned" scholars of the law remained silent when Jesus confronted them. They refused to accept what Jesus said and did. They remained in their pride as the authority of the law. The Holy Eucharist teaches us humility before God.
- Jesus healed a man suffering from dropsy. Dropsy is an old term that refers to the extra fluid seeping into the soft tissues of the body. Today, we use the term "edema" or "pagmamanas." Let us ask ourselves, what are the extra things we are holding on to, which are seeping into the sensitive tissues of our spiritual life? In the Holy Eucharist, if we offer these, God, in His compassion, removes all our "pagmamanas," our physical and spiritual infirmities.
- For peace and order, it is necessary for us to obey the law, the rules, or policies. However, there are times that while we are keeping it, we may be breaking God’s commandment of love. The Holy Eucharist strengthens our hearts to obey God’s commandment of love helping us to be mindful in enforcing the policies for the common good, rather than just for the sake of keeping it.
Fr. Joel R. Lasutaz, SSS
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