Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel reading can be helpful for those of us who are concerned to uphold the laws of God and of the Church. For when Jesus heals the woman who has been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years, the Pharisees are not speaking falsely when they say that there are six days when work is to be done. What is problematic—and what prompts Jesus to call them hypocrites—is that they judge Jesus’s healing of the woman as “work” prohibited by the commandment. They are blinded, perhaps because of their jealousy of Jesus or perhaps because of self-righteousness, and condemn what is praiseworthy. And in the end, they are humiliated for it.
When we make judgments, it is imperative that we do so not from a place of jealousy, pride, or some other unfreedom, but from God’s perspective—which is one of truth, mercy, and compassion. Aided by the Holy Spirit, we can then judge properly.
Today, let us ask for light to see what unfreedoms we might have that prevent us from judging rightly, and the grace to see from God’s perspective of mercy, love, and compassion.