Monday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time

As we hear from today’s Gospel passage from St. Luke, a synagogue official has maintained work should not take place on the Sabbath. In reply, Jesus contends that God’s work may be done on any day of the week. He was doing God’s work by releasing a woman from whatever prevented her from standing upright. He untied her bonds; He set her free from what was keeping her back.

 

For Jesus, life-giving work is always timely. There is no day, no time when it may not be done. He wants all of us to share in some way in His work of freeing people from what holds them back. We are to be friends to others, kind to others, forgiving others as God has forgiven us, loving as Christ has loved us. In this way, we share in the LORD’S life-giving and redeeming work.

 

Such work is always timely; there is never a wrong time to do it. Jesus’ cure of the woman led her to glorify God the Father, rather than Jesus. We hear that when she straightened up, she glorified God. That should always be the goal of our sharing in the LORD’S work too. We do the LORD’S work, not so that we may receive glory, but so that through it others may give glory to God.+