Who is greater? People or the Sabbath? In today’s Gospel proclamation again we see a bone of contention between our Lord Jesus and the religious leaders. Our Lord’s mission was to bring salvation to humankind and he did not focus much on the Sabbath rules. Our Lord Jesus clarifies that what matters is not the mere act of observing the sab¬bath but the intentions of the heart. God wants us to do things out of love and mercy instead of just offering a sacrifice that lacks love and mercy.

It is only in the light of Christ, through the Holy Spirit that we are guided how to discern what is appropriate in the eyes of God when we face situations relating to the observance of the Jewish laws. Today the world is run on law rather than on love and compassion. There are many times we carry the same intentions that the religious leaders carried in their hearts while they were trying to trap the Lord Jesus.

“Then the Pharisees went away to work out between them how to trap him in what he said.” Matthew 22:15. Pharisees in their blind¬ness believed the Lord Jesus was guilty of blasphemy. They failed to understand that the Lord Jesus was the source of Love. They wanted to charge Him for any reason they could find. They failed to accept the Lord Jesus as the Messiah that they were looking for.

In today’s context, if we do a deep dive into our hearts, how many times will we find ourselves in the place of those religious leaders. How many times have we failed to understand the importance of love. It could be the rejection of someone or turning our backs on someone in need or even to the extent of manipulating someone else for our own good. These are the times that we become like Pharisees in action. We are called to follow the path of our Lord Jesus and only that part. In John 13:34 our Lord Jesus tells us “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Hence we called to not merely follow tradition or rituals that many tend to do but love one another as the Lord loves us.

Prayer: Abba Father, help us to follow the path of your Son as we aspire to become like Him. When we fail to love one another let us be guided by the Holy Spirit. Amen.