Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
To Preserve Life, Not To Destroy It
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. The community of Corinth has problems not only of unity but, as an important pagan port city, it is also easygoing on morality. Paul reminds them that this is intolerable in Christians. They are now identified with Christ and should have become new.
Gospel. It is strange how, as we read in the gospel, faithful, practising religious people, like the scribes and Pharisees – the regular churchgoers of their day – were a big obstacle to the work of Jesus. They are upset and angry because Jesus cures a man with a withered hand on the day of the Lord. Jesus came to do good and to preserve life, as he said, to carry out a mission of love and life, and these cannot be adequately expressed in laws and commands. We may and should do good also on Sundays!
Opening Prayer
God our Father,
we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ.
He went around doing good
and no law made by human beings could keep him
from carrying out his mission of life and love.
Let your Spirit enlighten us
to understand his mentality
and to give first place to what is important,
that we may live by the law of love
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
First Reading
The Incestuous Man
You have become a news story because of a moral failure, a case so severe it is not even seen among pagans. Yes, one of you has taken his stepmother as wife.
And you’re proud of this! Shouldn’t you be mourning instead and removing the one who committed such a sin?
For my part, even though I am not physically present, my spirit is with you, and I have already judged the man who committed this sin as if I were there.
Let us come together, you and my spirit, in the name of our Lord Jesus, and with his authority,
hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of judgment.
This is not the time to boast. Don’t you know that a bit of yeast causes the whole batch of dough to rise?
Then, discard the old yeast and become new dough. If Christ is our Passover, you should be unleavened bread.
Let us therefore celebrate the Passover, not with old yeast, which is sin and evil, but with unleavened bread, symbolizing purity and sincerity.
Responsorial Psalm
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
You hate all evildoers.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
You destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
the LORD abhors.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
But let all who take refuge in you
be glad and exult forever.
Protect them, that you may be the joy
of those who love your name.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man:
“Get up and stand in the middle.”
Then he spoke to them:
“I want to ask you: what is allowed by the law on the Sabbath? To do good or to harm, to save a life or to destroy it?”
And Jesus looked around at them all.
Then he said to the man:
“Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out, and his hand was restored, becoming as healthy as the other.
But they were furious and began to discuss with one another how they could deal with Jesus.
Prayers of the Faithful
– That on the Lord’s day people may be given the time to rest and recover from the pressure of their work and have the opportunity to worship God and help people, we pray:
– That the people who go to Mass on Sundays may also live according to the gospel on weekdays, we pray:
– That the eucharistic celebration on Sundays may be to all Christians a source of great joy and an encouragement to serve people, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
we bring these gifts before you
to celebrate the mystery of the death and life
of your Son Jesus Christ.
Give us the wisdom of the Spirit
to opt always with your Son,
not for death, but for life
and to let even death become
a promise and a seed of your life,
which you give us through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
we are afraid of becoming fixed and rigid
in our attitudes and practices,
even with the best of Intercessions.
By the word of your Son spoken here
and by the bread of life he has given us,
keep us always young and flexible of heart
and attentive to your presence and call
in the people around us.
Let us never stand in the way of any good
done in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Blessing
It is lawful to do good on Sundays. It is even commendable, for it makes the day of the Lord greater, more wonderful. May Almighty God bless you for the good you do: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Luke 6:6-11
Faith That Restores Life
In today’s Gospel, two kinds of withering appear. The first is a man with a withered hand. However, what could be more detrimental is that the hearts of the observers have also become rigid and devoid of feelings. They enter the synagogue not to encounter God, but to gather evidence against Jesus. He responds with a question that exposes their hypocrisy: “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?”
Fr Armellini helps us see the withered hand as a symbol of a life deprived of its power to act, create, serve, and embrace. Jesus calls the man into the centre because suffering must never remain invisible. By restoring his hand on the Sabbath, Christ reveals God’s desire: to restore humanity to freedom and fullness.
Fr Ron Rolheiser reminds us that truth must always be joined to compassion. Religious correctness without mercy can harden into cruelty. We may defend principles, quote laws, and preserve traditions while failing to rejoice when someone is healed. Holiness is measured not by what we refuse to do, but by the life, dignity, and hope our presence restores.
“Stretch out your hand,” Jesus commands. The man must expose what is weak. We too are invited to present our withered places: neglected gifts, relationships, faith, and fear.
Today, let us ask Jesus to soften every rigid heart, restore our capacity for goodness, and make our hands instruments of mercy. Then our worship will become truly a joyful participation in God’s work of healing, liberation, and renewed creation.