First reading 1 Corinthians 4:6-15
What do you have that was not given to you?
Take Apollos and myself as an example and remember the maxim: ‘Keep to what is written.’ It is not for you, so full of your own importance, to go taking sides for one man against another. In any case, brother, has anybody given you some special right? What do you have that was not given to you? And if it was given, how can you boast as though it were not? Is it that you have everything you want – that you are rich already, in possession of your kingdom, with us left outside? Indeed I wish you were really kings, and we could be kings with you! But instead, it seems to me, God has put us apostles at the end of his parade, with the men sentenced to death; it is true – we have been put on show in front of the whole universe, angels as well as men. Here we are, fools for the sake of Christ, while you are the learned men in Christ; we have no power, but you are influential; you are celebrities, we are nobodies. To this day, we go without food and drink and clothes; we are beaten and have no homes; we work for our living with our own hands. When we are cursed, we answer with a blessing; when we are hounded, we put up with it; we are insulted and we answer politely. We are treated as the offal of the world, still to this day, the scum of the earth.
I am saying all this not just to make you ashamed but to bring you, as my dearest children, to your senses. You might have thousands of guardians in Christ, but not more than one father and it was I who begot you in Christ Jesus by preaching the Good News.
Responsorial Psalm 144(145):17-21
The Lord is close to all who call him.
The Lord is just in all his ways
and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him,
who call on him from their hearts.
He grants the desires of those who fear him,
he hears their cry and he saves them.
The Lord protects all who love him;
but the wicked he will utterly destroy.
Let me speak the praise of the Lord,
let all mankind bless his holy name
for ever, for ages unending.
Gospel Luke 6:1-5
The Son of Man is master of the sabbath
One sabbath Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples were picking ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them. Some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath day?’ Jesus answered them, ‘So you have not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God, took the loaves of offering and ate them and gave them to his followers, loaves which only the priests are allowed to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’
Embracing A Heart of Gratitude And Love
In the first reading today, St. Paul calls us to strive for humility by saying, “What do you have that was not given to you?” God is the source and giver of everything we are and everything we have. The question is not to diminish us, but to free us from pride and the need to compare ourselves with others, allowing us to live in gratitude. With a heart filled with gratitude, we can then turn to God and ask. “Lord, how do you want me to use what you have given me today?”
In the Gospel, religious leaders criticised Jesus’ disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath. Jesus did not dismiss the Sabbath. Rather, He revealed its deepest purpose. It was meant as a time for rest and for deepening one’s relationship with God. For Jesus, religious observances and rules must always be guided by love. Otherwise, we may follow outwardly while missing the heart of God. Today, Jesus calls us to live with a heart of gratitude and allow our love for God to shape how we live our faith.
Reflective question:
Do I recognise my gifts, achievements, and faith itself as gifts received from God?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD
