Daughters of St Paul | Daily Gospel Reflections

 Reading : 1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 Gospel Mk 3:1-6 Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up here before us." Then he said to the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death. Reflections: One of the key themes of today’s gospel is the clash between Jesus and the religious leaders, regarding the observance of the Sabbath. Jesus encounters a man with a withered hand in the synagogue, and the religious leaders w

 Gospel Lk 6:6-11 Have we been grateful enough for all our healings? Gospel Text: On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up and stand before us." And he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" Looking around at them all, he then said to him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so and his hand was restored. But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus. Reflections: Despite Jesus clearly performing good deeds, the Pharisees kept a constant vigilance on him. They tried to find fault with all that he did.  If we