HOMILY OF FRIDAY IN THE 15TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A
Exodus 11:10-12:14, Matthew 12:1-8
THEME: THE SABBATH FOR ME
The true purpose of religion is to free individuals, not to bind or control them. Any religious belief system that prioritizes rigid rules and regulations over meeting human needs creates a structure that goes against the spirit of unity and kinship found within a family.
To the Pharisees who quizzed Jesus because his disciples’ picked ears of corn on the sabbath he said, “And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath.”
Jesus is our righteousness. He comes to mold us into his image, to make perfect what is imperfect in us. Left to rules, we are unfit for the kingdom, but with Christ’s open arms, we can readily stand, not basking in the pool of our sins but in the euphoria of God’s love who is prodigy in mercy.
However, the Lord Jesus continues to plead for us at the right hand of the Father, just the way he did for his disciples in todays’ gospel. Let us bring our needs to him. Let us present our hunger and thirst before him.
May the Lord satisfy all our needs. Amen.
