Gospel Mark 2:23-28 As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
Reflection Religion can become a burden. It can rob us of what the heart of the gospel is proclaiming. Rules, regulations and laws, that was the heart of the Old Testament, and yet it still becomes attractive to so many of us when we think if we only to what we're told, that's enough. But in doing that, we often limit ourselves from who we really are called to become.
It's not about knowing what to do and doing it because we're told to. It's about becoming someone and understanding who we are. We move from the law and regulations to true wisdom. That's the promise of healthy religion.
Closing Prayer For many people, religion is a burden and often has been something they went to and felt that they were being robbed of the rights that they had or the dignity that they have. Bless us with wisdom not to get caught in that and know that the freedom that God has called us to is always going to be focused on what is life giving for us. Nothing is asked of us that robs us of our value or our dignity. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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