You ask me a method of attaining perfection.
I know of love – and only love.
Love can do all things.
– Saint Therese of Lisieux
You ask me a method of attaining perfection.
I know of love – and only love.
Love can do all things.
– Saint Therese of Lisieux
MEMORIAL OF SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT, POPE AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH
Lectionary: 436
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
Learn from myself and Apollos not to go beyond what is written,
so that none of you will be inflated with pride
in favor of one person over against another.
Who confers distinction upon you?
What do you possess that you have not received?
But if you have received it,
why are you boasting as if you did not receive it?
You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich;
you have become kings without us!
Indeed, I wish that you had become kings,
so that we also might become kings with you.
For as I see it, God has exhibited us Apostles as the last of all,
like people sentenced to death,
since we have become a spectacle to the world,
to angels and men alike.
We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ;
we are weak, but you are strong;
you are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty,
we are poorly clad and roughly treated,
we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands.
When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
when slandered, we respond gently.
We have become like the world’s rubbish, the scum of all,
to this very moment.
I am writing you this not to shame you,
but to admonish you as my beloved children.
Even if you should have countless guides to Christ,
yet you do not have many fathers,
for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (18) The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him,
he hears their cry and saves them.
The LORD keeps all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
May my mouth speak the praise of the LORD,
and may all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath,
his disciples were picking the heads of grain,
rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said,
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?
How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,
which only the priests could lawfully eat,
ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
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Scrupulosity
Talk about being petty! Here the disciples were hungry, they most likely had been walking for some time with Jesus and came upon some wheat and picked it to eat as they walked. And they were condemned by the Pharisees for doing this very normal action. Did they really break the law and offend God by picking and eating this grain?
Jesus’ response makes it clear that the Pharisees are quite confused and that the disciples did nothing wrong. But this passage does give us an opportunity to reflect upon one spiritual danger that some fall into at times. It’s the danger of scrupulosity.
We do not know if this is the case, but if one or more of the disciples struggled with scrupulosity and then heard the Pharisees condemn them for eating the grain, they may have felt immediate remorse and guilt over their actions. They would have started to fear that they were guilty of breaking God’s command to keep holy the Sabbath. But their scrupulosity has to be seen for what it is and they have to recognize the trigger that tempted them toward scrupulosity.
The “trigger” that tempted them is an extreme and erroneous view of the law of God as presented by the Pharisees. Yes, God’s law is perfect and must always be followed down to the last letter of the law. But for those who struggle with scrupulosity, the law of God can easily become distorted and exaggerated. Human laws and human misrepresentations of the law of God can cause confusion. And, in the Scripture above, the trigger was the arrogance and harshness of the Pharisees. God was not offended in any way by the disciples picking and eating grain on the Sabbath. The Pharisees, therefore, were attempting to impose a burden on the disciples that was not from God.
We, too, can be tempted to look at God’s law and will in a scrupulous way. Though many people do the opposite (are too lax), some do struggle with worrying about offending God when He is not offended at all.
Reflect, today, upon your own struggle with scrupulosity. If this is you, know that God wants to free you from these burdens.
Today's Prayer
Lord, help me to see Your law and will in the light of truth. Help me to shed all misconceptions and misrepresentations of Your law in exchange for the truths of Your perfect love and mercy. May I cling to that mercy and love in all things and above all things. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.
God Bless You.....
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