September 10th, 2018

Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
437

FIRST READING
1 COR 5:1-8

Brothers and sisters:
It is widely reported that there is immorality among you,
and immorality of a kind not found even among pagans–
a man living with his father’s wife.
And you are inflated with pride.
Should you not rather have been sorrowful?
The one who did this deed should be expelled from your midst.
I, for my part, although absent in body but present in spirit,
have already, as if present,
pronounced judgment on the one who has committed this deed,
in the name of our Lord Jesus:
when you have gathered together and I am with you in spirit
with the power of the Lord Jesus,
you are to deliver this man to Satan
for the destruction of his flesh,
so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

Your boasting is not appropriate.
Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?
Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough,
inasmuch as you are unleavened.
For our Paschal Lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,
not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

PSALM
PS 5:5-6, 7, 12

Response: Lead me in your justice, Lord.

For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
You hate all evildoers.

You destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
the LORD abhors.

But let all who take refuge in you
be glad and exult forever.
Protect them, that you may be the joy
of those who love your name.

GOSPEL
LK 6:6-11

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.

Daily Reflection

10th September 2018

Paul addresses the Corinthians about a certain case of concubinage – a man living with his father’s second wife. The Corinthians prided themselves as a model and mission-oriented community. Paul confronts them on this scandal and recommends that this person be delivered “to Satan” i.e. excommunicated, so that he is able to repent and undergo purification before he is allowed to the Eucharistic sacrifice. But he also asks the community to mourn for the person and pray for his conversion.

The Gospel lives out what the Psalm proclaims “Lead me in your justice Lord”. Jesus confronts the Pharisees about whether it is lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath by placing before them a man with a withered hand. A withered hand rendered a man incapable of manual work and hence was considered a curse. In choosing to cure him rather than follow the letter of the Sabbath law, Jesus chooses the supreme good.

Perfect love casts out all fear (1Jn 4:18)... How true!