30TH MONDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Luke 13:10-17) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” (Lk 13:12)

FIRST READING - Rom 8:12-17

"You received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba, Father!"

A reading from the Letter to the Romans

¹² Consequently, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

^{[a] 14} For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba,^[b] Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Lk 13:10-17

"This daughter of Abraham, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?"

✠From the Gospel according to Luke

¹⁰ He was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. ¹¹ And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.” ¹³ He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God. ¹⁴ 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.” ^15 [a]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? ^16 [b]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?” ¹⁷ When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

30TH MONDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Luke 13:10-17)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear people of God,

Today's Word of God speaks of Jesus healing a woman who had been crippled for eighteen years. Jesus came down to earth to become a human being to cast out Satan and heal humanity.

He is the One who has full authority over Satan. He possesses the power and might of God to cast Satan out from the souls and bodies of humanity.

In today's Word of God, Jesus healed the woman whose back had been bent over for eighteen years because Satan had bound her soul and body, preventing her from standing up straight, lifting her head, or opening her mouth to sing praises to God.

Therefore, God's love and mercy for humanity were manifested in the woman in today's Gospel.

Only God possesses the power and might to cast Satan out of her soul and body, which had been bent for a very long time.

No one else can do that, except God! Yet, the synagogue leader was enraged; he and some people who envied Jesus condemned Jesus, saying: Why not heal on the six working days instead of on the Sabbath, which is a day of rest?

That condemnation reveals the arrogance of the synagogue leader and some others, who thought they were following the law correctly, that they were perfect and righteous, and thus had the right to condemn and judge others.

Through this, God wishes to impart a lesson to humanity today:

• Abandon pride, arrogance, and conceit within ourselves.

• Always live humbly, abasing ourselves before God and recognizing ourselves as sinful, weak human beings before God and others. Never entertain the thought of condemning others, for only God alone has the right to judge others.

• Always know to love and honor God above all things and to love others as ourselves, loving with all our hearts, souls, and minds.

Do not merely observe formal laws to kill our own souls, or to kill the souls of others.

These are the things God calls on today's humanity to live and act according to what He has taught.

Thanks be to God. Amen