Preservation of Life (HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR II (JULY 19 2024)

HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (JULY 19, 2024)

Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8; Ps. 38; Matthew 12:1-8

Preservation of Life

As part of keeping the Sabbath day holy, the Jews were forbidden from plucking grains. This is a way of saying that farmers should not go to their farms on Sabbath day for farming activities. Plucking of grain was seen as harvesting of grain which is a farming activity in itself. It is against this background that the Pharisees observed with displeasure and quickly pointed out to Jesus the “misdeed” of the disciples – they were plucking grains on a Sabbath day.

Let us also consider this “misdeed” from another perspective. The disciples were familiar with the law of the Sabbath and how it forbade them from plucking grains. If ever one dares to disobey a law, surely not before the authority. To disobey a law before an authority is to slight the authority too. So, the Pharisees may not only have perceived a disobedience to the Sabbath Law but also a slight to their authority. If Jesus was not with the disciples at that moment, would they have plucked the grains?

You see, the problem with hypocrisy is that it is not able to understand the law it pretends to be keeping. The disciples plucked grains but they were not really harvesting per se. The motivation behind the plucking of grain was not to harvest as an act of farming. In fact, from the context of the narrative it is very likely that the grain field was not belonging to Jesus nor the disciples – for they were passing by.

The disciples plucked grain to satisfy their hunger at that moment. So, by their action, they were not farming but saving lives (their lives). Any law that does not respect life, does not deserve to be obeyed. Christ came that we may have life, life in abundance.

In the first reading, Hezekiah asked for life and it was given him by God. Like Hezekiah, we are called to desire life – eternal life, not just for ourselves alone but also for others. God is merciful so that man can be saved. If we must be like Christ in giving life to others, we must also be merciful. This is the kind of worship that pleases the Lord.