Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament

January 21, 2026

Jesus proposes a dilemma to the religious leaders in this incident. This man’s hand is withered. “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or do evil, to save life or destroy it?”

Jesus often clashed with the religious scholars on their insistence that the laws of the Sabbath and other ritual rules were fundamental to their identity as a people. These rules held them together and set them apart from their gentile neighbors. An act against these laws was an offense against God, who gave them the Law, and against the purity which set them apart.

But Jesus operated on a different level. He was imbued by another Tradition of the Torah and the Prophets. His recollection of this Tradition meshed greatly with the Kingdom he personified and proclaimed. The poor, the orphan, and the widow, the alien in their midst, were under the special protection of the God of their fathers.

There is a message for us today. The heart of Jesus was with those ignored or vilified by the powers of his day. Our whole tradition, dear to the heart of Peter Julian Eymard, and, most recently, accentuated by Pope Francis and Pope Leo, is that the care of the poor, the marginalized, the immigrant, the refugee, the homeless is to be our focus. It is not an option. The Gospel, and not some xenophobic hatred and fear of all that is different from us, drives us as the followers of Jesus.

The Eucharist calls us to love unconditionally every man, woman, and child as the Incarnation of God made man in Jesus. They command our love, support, and affirmation. Our failure to respond to them is our refusal to make the Eucharist a reality in our lives. It is in our hands and hearts!

Let Us Pray:

God of all creation, all that came from is good. We stand before you as recipients of your grace. Help us to see you in all those we meet. Give us an abundance of your grace to stand against the fear, hatred, and ignorance that keep us apart. May our celebration of the Eucharist feed us to be you in our own time and place. Amen.