Anquish of St. Paul and Jesus

Homily for Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

We have reached the point in St. Luke’s Gospel where we will be hearing some of the very familiar parables that are only related by Saint Luke. At the same time, we will hear Jesus discuss true discipleship. Today’s Gospel reading introduces us to another of the healing miracles of Jesus, the cure of a man afflicted with dropsy, a term that was used for the disease that we currently call diabetes.

However, before we hear that story, we continue to read from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Today’s text gives us an insight into St. Paul’s anguish over the inability of some of his own people, the Jewish people, to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. As he boldly states, Jesus comes out of the history of Israel. While we ordinarily think of St. Paul as the Apostle to the Gentiles, today’s reading tells us of St. Paul’s longing for the Israelites also to accept Jesus as he has done.

Perhaps Jesus feels something like the same anguish in the Gospel text that we read today. He is reaching out not only as the healer of the man suffering from dropsy, but as teacher to the people who are watching him closely – particularly the scholars of the law and the Pharisees, who in the past have opposed his healing on the Sabbath. While healing the man, Jesus also invites the religious leaders to see the Sabbath and God’s love from his perspective. He invites them to understand that the healing of the man on the Sabbath is not a violation of the law, but an act of God’s mercy and love for all people, especially those in need.

If we ever feel confused about how God is calling us to respond or where God’s love might be in a difficult situation, we can always turn to Jesus, the teacher. Sitting with Jesus and listening to him in quiet prayer can open our hearts to a better understanding of God’s perspective – of God’s way of showing his love to a world surely in need. Each day, as we celebrate the Eucharist, we first break open the Scriptures and consider how Jesus expressed God’s love for all people. Then, and only then, do we break the bread of the Eucharist, God’s gift to us in which we come to know God’s grace, God’s life, and God’s love.