Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6, 6-11
On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught,
and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up and stand before us.”
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Withered life
1. The withered right hand. As you know, the vast majority of us are right-handed. As our right hand is our dominant one, it allows us to do many things. The ‘paralyzed right hand’ can be a symbol of a spiritual paralysis that you may be suffering, leading you to do nothing in your life. If you find no meaning in life, the days just go by monotonously. There is no intention or motivation. It’s a great disease when you don’t find meaning in living, when every day is the same for you. But remember life is beautiful, because you can do many things. You can always have a new chance if you haven’t achieved much so far, but you have to give yourself the opportunity. Nobody knows how long you will be here, and you should not waste your life waiting, or depending on others. This can cause you to be completely paralyzed. Don’t lose your freedom and your life. You can lose many things if you don’t live fully, even the love of your life.
2. Watch closely. You and I can be judgmental towards others, but Jesus is clear that He doesn’t want that from us. There are people who don’t find meaning in their lives and as a Church, we must listen and help. We must be at their side. We can’t fall into judging and being indifferent to others. Please, let’s work and do something, let’s not go around criticizing. It is easy to condemn and judge, but we shouldn’t do so.
3. Your arm. Today Jesus wants to perform the miracle of giving you life, of making you aware that you can do so much in this world, much more than you can imagine. Knowing that you can and being able to convince yourself of what you can accomplish, you can do great thing for others. Today, ask Jesus to help you to get out of your paralysis and to do things that achieve the most beautiful thing you can have in life, peace and happiness.
Remember that something good is on the way!
God bless you and guard you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
