22nd Week in Ordinary Time : Saturday 5th September 2020

Paul was addressing issues specific to the church at Corinth. He had high expectations and was disappointed with the divisions among the Corinthians. Paul admonished them not to be proud of what they had for everything was a gift from God.

Some of the Corinthians enjoyed the riches of life while others suffered from less, including Paul and the apostles. Paul cared deeply about the Corinthians and thought of himself as a father to the Corinthian Church, referring to them as his “beloved children”. Paul knew that such divisions could cause great turmoil and reduce the effect of Jesus’ message. How can we work to heal divisions in the Church today?

The disciples were hungry, so they picked some grain and ate it, although it was unlawful to harvest grain on the Sabbath. Again, the Pharisees challenged Jesus. Jesus responded by referring to the scriptures, where David took the bread of the Presence from the temple to feed his hungry men. Jesus regularly used the scriptures to respond to challenges, whether by other humans or by the devil as in the temptation stories. Then Jesus surprised everyone by saying that he had authority over the Sabbath. Rigid adherence to the letter of the law is not the way of Jesus.

Lord, help me to respond as Jesus did.