Unable to Answer

Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)

How great are the works of the Lord! (Psalms 111:2)

(After Jesus cured a man of dropsy on the sabbath, he said to the scholars and Pharisees:) “Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?” But they were unable to answer his question. (Luke 14:5-6)

Piety

Lord, open my eyes and my heart and my soul so that I do what is pleasing to You at all times, rather than parsing intent.

Study

Oh, those silly learned people of Jesus’s time.

A man is suffering, possibly due to swelling in his legs and feet that could be a sign of congestive heart failure. But it’s the Sabbath, and you know what that means: as far as the scholars and Pharisees are concerned, he’ll just have to wait. Healing just isn’t done on the Sabbath, you know. That would go against the law.

Jesus, a dinner guest at the home of a leading Pharisee, goes ahead and heals the man anyway. Then he asks if they wouldn’t have saved their own son or even a beast of burden who met with an accident on the Sabbath. The answer? Nothing.

Today, our world, our country, our states, our local governments are suffering. Next week, people around the nation will vote for U.S. senators, representatives, governors, and other offices. There are important questions to ask the candidates. You’ll find one list, with questions on issues such as changes in the Affordable Care Act, comprehensive immigration reform, same-sex marriage, the federal minimum wage, and the environment at the Virginia Catholic Conference Web site. Why not pose the questions to representatives for the candidates in your area? Do they nimbly stick to talking points, never directly answering out of concern for losing a vote? Or do they share the candidate’s position clearly and thoughtfully?

Oh, those silly learned people of our time.

Action

Give careful, prayerful consideration to who on the ballot you will cast would best be able to help heal our suffering world.