Daily Gospel Reflection

Diagnose Your Inner Sickness

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where we are exploring the genius of the Gospels and looking for a word or a phrase or an idea that jumps out to us that the Spirit uses to grab our attention so that we can anchor our days in the Gospel. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke 6:6-11. "On another Sabbath, when Jesus entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath so that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, 'Come and stand here.' And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to him, 'I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?' And he looked around them all and then said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he did so, and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus."

Wow. I mean, these guys were really sick, right? I mean, they were really sick. Just think about it. It's the Sabbath. It's like a complete setup, right? You have to wonder, like, did they actually find the guy with the withered hand and actually put him in place to test Jesus? Because it's looking that way. So it's the Sabbath. Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. There's a guy with a withered hand, and the scribes and the Pharisees watch Jesus to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath so they might find an accusation against him. So they watched him to see if he could heal a guy so they could accuse him of healing a guy on the Sabbath. It is sick.

And then we read at the end after Jesus heals him and they were filled with fury and disgust with one another what they might do to Jesus. These guys were sick, and we're all sick. We're all sick. We all think things and do things at different times in our lives. Maybe not exactly this, maybe not as bad as this, maybe not as extreme as this, but it's the whole gossip thing. It's the whole delighting in someone's downfall. And obviously, they're also plotting for someone's downfall. And I think very often in the media we see people plotting for someone's downfall. But as a society, we take tremendous joy in someone's downfall. And it is really sick.

And so let's take a look at ourselves today and say, "Where is this sickness in us?" Rather than just looking at the scribes and the Pharisees and saying, "Those dudes were sick." Let's take a look at ourselves and ask, "Where is this sickness in us?" So the Gospel can continue to transform us, continue to purify us, continue to help us become a better version of ourselves, to grow in holiness. Have an amazing day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.