June 1, 2009

Tb 1:1-9
1 This is the story of Tobit son of Tobiel, son of Ananiel, son of Adonel, son of Gabael of the race of Asiel, of the tribe of Naphtali. 2In the days of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, Tobit was deported from Thisbe, which is to the south of Kedesh of Naphtali in Galilee, above Asher.
3I, Tobit, have walked in the ways of truth and justice all the days of my life; I have given many alms to my brethren and to those of my countrymen who were deported with me to Nineveh, a city in the country of the Assyrians.
4When I was a young man in my country, the land of Israel, all the tribe of my father Naphtali broke away from the family of David in Jerusalem. This was, however, the city chosen among all the tribes of Israel to be the place of sacrifice for all the tribes, and where the Temple, the house of God the Most High, had been built and consecrated for all generations forever.
5All the tribes which had separated, including the tribe of Naphtali my father, sacrificed to the calf Baal which Jeroboam, king of Israel, had set up at Dan, in the hills of Galilee. 6I, alone, often went to Jerusalem for the feasts, as is ordered for all the people of Israel by an everlasting decree. I went with the first fruits and tithes of my crop, and with the first shearings of the sheep. 7I gave these for the altar, to the priests, sons of Aaron; I gave a tithe of the corn, the wine, the olives, the pomegranates, the figs and the other fruits to the Levites who officiated in Jerusalem. I sold the second tithe every six years and went to distribute the money in Jerusalem.
8I gave the third tithe to the orphans and widows and to the pagan converts who had joined the Israelites. I gave them every three years and we ate according to the rules which had been laid down on this matter in the Law of Moses, and according to the recommendations made by Deborah, my father’s mother, for my father had left me an orphan.
9When I reached manhood I married Anna of the race of our forefathers and she bore me a son, Tobias.


Psalms 112: 1-6
1 Alleluia!
Blessed is the one who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commands.
2His children will be powerful on earth;
the upright’s offspring will be blessed.
3Wealth and riches are for his family,
there his integrity will remain.
4He is for the righteous a light in darkness,
he is kind, merciful and upright.
5It will be well with him who lends freely,
who leads a life of justice and honesty.
6For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered and loved forever.


Mk 12: 1-12
1 It happened that Jesus walked through the wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and began to pick some heads of wheat and crush them to eat the grain. 2When the Pharisees noticed this, they said to Jesus, “Look at your disciples; they are doing what is prohibited on the Sabbath!”
3Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and his men were hungry? 4He went into the house of God, and they ate the bread offered to God, although neither he nor his men had the right to eat it, but only the priests. 5And have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple break the Sabbath rest, yet they are not guilty?
6I tell you, there is greater than the Temple here. 7If you really knew the meaning of the words: It is mercy I want, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.
8Besides the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
9Jesus then left that place and went into one of their synagogues. 10A man was there with a paralyzed hand, and people who wanted to bring a charge against Jesus asked him, “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?”
11But he said to them, “What if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath? Will you not take hold of your sheep and lift it out? 12But a human person is much more valuable than a sheep! It is therefore permitted to do good on the Sabbath.” 13Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch

Commentaries: This chapter records the conflicts of Jesus with the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath. Why does the gospel make so much of these conflicts? Perhaps because at the time of Jesus the heavy load of religious obligations was a formidable obstacle for those searching for God. It may have been also because the Christians lost no time making new laws to which they gave an exaggerated importance. If Jesus deliberately violated the most sacred of the laws given by God to Moses, what about our ecclesiastical laws not guaranteed by the Word of God? In the name of man-made laws, adapted to a context that is not ours, Christian communities have at times been paralyzed and we let millions of people look for churches where they have the communities and pastors they have been deprived of.