BE FOOLISH AND GET STARVED

Saturday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time
Lk 6:1-5

Normally our meals are regularly scheduled. There are, however, some days when we take our meals out of the ordinary schedule. Sometimes we also need an extra meal. But meals do not just suddenly appear before us. We work for the money to buy a meal or we have to cook it ourselves. The terms “instant meal” is a misnomer. There are no instant meals. Even that which comes to us through a tetra pack is not instant in the truest sense of the word. Today the Lord and His disciples are walking through the cornfields. They must be very hungry because they started picking ears of corn. As they are trying to satisfy their hunger some of the Pharisees remind them that it is Sabbath day. Of course, they may eat on the Sabbath. But they may not pick ears of corn. A question begs for an answer from the Pharisees: How then should the disciples have a meal if they are not to pick ears of corn on the Sabbath. Ah, perhaps they should starve until the next day when it is no longer the Sabbath! Foolish! This is what happens when a law that is supposed to free us enslaves us instead. We become fools. This is how the Pharisees appear as they meticulously observe every detail of the Sabbath law even at the expense of the greater good. This is not the first time they appear foolish. Remember whenever Jesus heals even during the Sabbath? The Pharisees will always be there to remind Jesus that it is not the schedule for healing. Today, a Sabbath day, too, as far as the Pharisees are concerned, is not a schedule for scavenging for something to ease the pangs of hunger of the disciples of Jesus. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. The Pharisees are the slaves of the Sabbath. But the Sabbath is not mean to enslave us. It is to set us free. Yes, free for God. And when we cringe because of hunger, how can we be free to serve God? Foolish Pharisees. But are we any different from them? No, we are not until we learn that the spirit of the law is love. No, we are not until we live by the spirit, not the letter, of the law. Today is Saturday. It is Sabbath day. If there is nothing for us to cook for our meals today, will we not go to the market and buy what we need? Should the farmer not harvest his crop today for his family’s meal? Should the fisherman not fish today for his children’s nourishment? Let the law starve us to death if we wish, but let us not kill others with the law.