Luke 6:6
"On another sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered."
Luke goes out of his way to include the fact that Jesus heals this man on the sabbath. Under Jewish law at the time, only critical or life-threatening work could occur on a sabbath--everything else had to wait until the following day.
But Jesus does not wait--he cannot wait--to heal this man despite the fact that his withered hand was far from "life-threatening." He could have just waited until the following day. But he longs and lives to heal this man no matter what day of the week. Here, Jesus is willing to suffer the crowd's criticism (they object to the fact that he works on the sabbath) in order to heal. His love for the man and desire to make him whole knows no limits or obstacles.
And the same is true for us. Jesus desires to heal us--today, right now, in this moment. He does not want to wait until tomorrow to recreate us. And he willingly suffered the brutal mockery of the cross because of his love for us--and love to heal us.
Jesus, I allow you to heal me today.
Get to know our seminarians! Today's reflection was written by:
Deacon Connor Penn
Theology IV
Home parish: Corpus Christi, Tampa
Did you know...
"I'm a native of Tampa Bay and also a big fan of our area's sports teams. I'll be finishing my seminary studies this year (8th year, wow!) I grew up waterskiing on the Hillsborough River."
Pray with us for the men and women discerning the priesthood and religious life. To pray for our seminarians by name or to find out more about the Diocese of St. Petersburg vocations office, click here.
