Monday 5 September 2022

Today is Monday the 5th of September, in the 23rd week of Ordinary Time.

One Hope Project sings, ‘Come Close’. Draw near to the Lord now as you begin this time of prayer…

Come close
My heart is ready
Come close
My heart is here
Draw near I’m longing for You
Draw near
My love
All I’ve ever wanted
All I’ve ever wanted
All I’ve ever wanted is found in You
This moment is ours
I won’t rush away
Jesus

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 6:6-11


On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come and stand here.’ He got up and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?’ After looking around at all of them, he said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Whatever Jesus actually said in the synagogue on this occasion, his audience was largely unsympathetic. They were deliberately looking for something they could use against him. How does Jesus respond to this hostility? He could have avoided it by leaving the synagogue, but he didn't. What do you feel about his attitude? Was he being brashly self-assertive? Was he being courageous?


The situation in which Jesus is shown in today's Gospel may not be unlike situations in which I sometimes find myself. Is there something I want to remember about Jesus’s attitude that would help me to act well at such times?

While listening to the passage read again, notice how Jesus attends to a person in need.


Where in the circumstances of your own life are people most easily overlooked? Can you now, simply and in your own words, ask God to give you the grace to be aware of them and to respond to them with the attitude Jesus showed?

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.