26th OCTOBER. MONDAY OF WEEK 30

1st Reading: Romans 8:12-17

In the Spirit, we are God's children; he is our " Abba- Father"

So then, my brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh- for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For all who are led by the spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry,  " Abba!" Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ- If, in fact we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Gospel: Luke 13:10-17

Jesus cures a woman on the Sabbath; causing indignation

Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said,  " Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately  she stood up straight and began praising God. But the Leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, " There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day.

The Lord answered him and said, " You hypocrites!  Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day" When  he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at the wonderful things that he was doing.

MEDITATIONS AND REFLECTIONS ON THE READINGS

Dear brothers and sisters from the readings  more especially from the gospel we are invited to be life givers. In the gospel a synagogue official insists that no work be done on the Sabbath. In reply Jesus insists that God's work can be done on any day of the week. He was doing God's work by releasing  a woman from a condition that prevented her from standing upright. He untied her bonds; he set her free from what was setting her back.

The message of Jesus in today's gospel seems to be that of  life giving. There is no day, no time, when it cannot be done. Jesus wants all of us to share in some way in his work of releasing  people from what holds them back. We are to be friends, to be kind , forgiving  each other as God has forgiven us in Christ, loving one another as Christ  has loved us. There is not time set apart for life giving, what is needed for us all is to be ready for any eventuality regardless of our religious and cultural norms preventing us to do so.

There is an invitation from the gospel today about how do we regard and care sick people around us? be either in our families or outside our families? this is a human tendency that once you are fine then you are a friend of everybody, yet when you are sick, few will come to you to say at least a word of encouragement. Sick people deserve special treatment. Perhaps we cannot heal sick people like doctors do, however we are obliged to the best we can. Care for the sick is one of the spiritual works of mercy.

And in spite of our busy schedules and multiple commitments, we should have time to visit and pray for our loved ones and friends who are suffering from any kind of sickness, be it spiritual or physical. Christ wants to touch them through our words and prayers. He is asking us to be His ambassadors and instruments of His love.