Gospel as Goodness!

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

1 Sm 17:32-33,37,40-51; Mk 3:1-6

In today’s Gospel, Jesus helps us understand what it means to be good. 

The Gospel presents it clearly: the Pharisees ‘watched Jesus closely to see if they would cure him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him.’ 

At first, the clever nature of Jesus’ question attracts our attention. Jesus is not asking, ‘Is it lawful to heal the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath?’ Instead, he is asking, ‘Is it lawful to do good and to save life on the Sabbath?’ Doing good is lawful on any day. The Pharisees are silenced right away by the prudence of Jesus. 

Secondly, Jesus’ miracle shows that doing good demands a commitment. Let’s look at the irony. When the Pharisees are assembled to find fault with him, Jesus is there to do good. However, it is Jesus who is more persecuted, and it is Jesus who is risking his life by doing good. 

Sr. Joan Chittister, the American Benedictine nun, says, ‘Goodness is not rule-keeping; it is right-doing for right reasons.’ 

By his committed act, Jesus helps us understand that we make a choice to be good and not that we are good when it is convenient. 

Gospel is goodness in abundance. Jesus invites us to proclaim the Gospel of goodness. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar