18th Day of Ignatian Reflection

July 18, 2014 :Matthew 12: 1- 18

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’[a] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Reflection: 

In today’s gospel the Pharisees complained to Jesus about His disciples who were picking up heads of grain of wheat and ate them because they were so hungry. Such kind of thing is clearly prohibited under the Law of Sabbath and therefore Jesus’ disciples violated the law. But Jesus came to defend them by citing two known exemptions from the strict rule on the Sabbath rest, that of David and the priest doing temple services.

Jesus looks beyond the letter of the Law and sees the person first; the person’s needs and wants go before the law and more, the person for Him is the qualifier of the law. He asserts the importance of human life over the Sabbath. I find people who are super involved with church activities but don't apply the Lord’s teachings when they reach home or work Ex. He/She praises, sings, a good adviser to the church group but when he goes home. I hear him curse on the jeepney driver and a vendor. This same person who is surely active in church dresses very well when he’s there to boast his new car, new bag perhaps but his kids had dirty shirts, no food on the table because he’s busy with church activities. At work, he is a good leader but criticizes colleagues a lot. This is sad but this is true, it is a reality. At times, we are not also spared for this attitude. We tend to focus more on the strict implementation of the rules to the extent that life-giving relationships are endangered. Honestly, I do remember so many pains, perhaps, because of people who are like the Pharisees in the gospel today. Yes, there have been tensions and areas of conflict because of  the seemingly problematic implementation of rules but all the values I learn in my Ateneo life like Cura personalis, Finding God in all things,  Magis, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, Men and Women for others to name a few erased them all by witnessing inspiring people who make these values real, actual and in the very concrete. Who can remember pain? Maybe because I have seen people in the workplace live what I thought Ateneo could be. They have shown me how persons are important and could be moved and changed by simple act of kindness or by a single act of selflessness. They always find joy in developing daily the reality of lay partnership with Jesuits, defining and refining it. Finally, the first Jesuit I really knew was Fr. William J. Malley, SJ. He helped people earn scholarships in Ateneo through Ignatian Institute of Religious Education (IIRE). He gave so generously of himself. He gave importance on the human person. He gave us future. He prepared us to become Ateneo teachers. Still, I am grateful. I am happy. Fr. Malley,SJ taught me how to love and care other person with passion. Thus, the real priority of God is the human person, cura personalis. For me, I think that is what actually pleases God is the act of charity, that is, charity that acts immediately and does not delay. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” Jesus reminds us today that it is mercy, forgiveness and compassion which I would say the recipes for happiness and not sacrifice that matters. It is associated with God’s loving kindness of which forgiveness is a fundamental manifestation. Therefore, Mercy is one of the fruits of charity and proceeds from the love of God and neighbor. It is alright to be legal but being legalistic is a different matter. The Pharisees were so fixated to the letters of the law that they had hardly any regard for the human person. I have known people who are too legalistic and structured. Who make instant judgments and counting the mistakes of others become then so natural that mercy, forgiveness, cura personalis and compassion are on the sideline. I understand that rules, laws and regulations and traditions, all these are good for they are meant to provide peace and order, social order to give direction to one’s life and to promote life. They are beneficial to us. But the moment we forget the person, for whom the laws were made and become too legalistic, too formalistic and structured, the laws ceased to be life-giving.

What is my priority in school as an Atenean?

How has cura personalis influenced me as an Atenean?

How do I incarnate cura personalis over the rules and regulations in school?

Reflection by: Zenon Batubalonos