Tuesday 16 January 2024

Today is Tuesday the 16th of January, in the second week of Ordinary time.

The Porter’s Gate sing, ‘Come, All Who Are Weary’.

Come, all who are weary
I will give you rest
Come, all who are striving
Lean upon my breast
For my yoke is easy and my burden light
Oh come, all who are weary, come
Come, all who are wounded
Crying out “how long?”
Come, all who are waiting
For the break of dawn
Darkness will not hide me forever from your sight
Oh come, all who are wounded, come
Come, all who are weeping
All whose hope is gone
Come, all who are silent
All who’ve lost their song
Your every tear is numbered
Your every sigh unknown
Oh come, all who are weeping, come
Oh come, all who are weary, wounded and weeping
All of God’s children, come


Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 2:23-28

One sabbath Jesus was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

In Mark’s gospel Jesus is almost continually on the move. His disciples seem to have to hurry to keep up with him. Try to picture them here snatching the chance to get a mouthful to eat as he strides on ahead.

Why, do you think, are the Pharisees finding fault? Is there something good that they are trying to safeguard here?

Jesus points to a time when David and his companions were on the run, being hunted down by their enemies. How convincing do you find his answer to the point that the Pharisees are making?

As the passage is read again, notice Jesus’ words about the purpose of the sabbath. What does this mean in your own life?

Speak with Jesus, as the prayer draws to a close, about God’s gift of sabbath time and its place in your life.

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.