Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13, 10-17
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue,
indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath,
said to the crowd in reply,
“There are six days when work should be done.
Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites!
Does not each one of you on the sabbath
untie his ox or his ass from the manger
and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now,
ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day
from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
Straightening your life
1. Eighteen years. That is how long this woman had been sick. How long have you carried burdens, limitations, and pain that prevent you from straightening up and looking ahead? How long have you been held back by limits imposed by others or, more importantly, by yourself? How long have you so focused on your own problems that you can’t make future plans? Have you lost your self-worth and allowed yourself to be humiliated or devalued? How long have you been humiliating yourself and been humiliated by others because you feel that your struggles are a punishment or a sign that you’ve been forgotten by God?
2. Synagogue leader. He got angry because the miracle Jesus performed didn’t fit his expectations of how God should work. This points to a common attitude within the Church: we get angry when others don’t think like us. We even become outraged when someone finds God, but not through the means or methods that we consider they ought to. These “synagogue leaders” still exist in the Church. They try to manage God’s schedule or control the Holy Spirit, deciding who deserves God’s intervention and who doesn’t. Essentially, they resist seeing God work in unexpected ways or in the lives of people they look down on.
3. Wonders. God works wonders in your life if you are open to receiving Him. With God’s help, you have the power to confront and let go of whatever makes you live “unworthily” or feel “sick.” You have the opportunity in this life to straighten up—to regain your dignity and take the necessary actions for your future. Don’t allow anyone to make you lower yourself. Instead of looking down, focus on your goal, which is happiness.
Never forget that something good is on the way! God bless you and be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
