FREED FROM YOUR INFIRMITY…

Romans 8:12-17

12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not 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.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16 it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Luke 13:10-17

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.11 And there was a woman who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself.12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.”13 And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.”
15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger, and lead it away to water it?
16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?”
17 As he said this, all his adversaries were put to shame; and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.  

MEDITATION

St PAUL ARGUES that death will be our final end if we are enslaved by our lust to satisfy our temporal fleshly needs! On the other hand, if we employ the power of the Spirit operating within us to please God, we will live! In baptism we become sons and daughters of Christ Jesus whereby we are rightly entitled to intimately address God as “Abba Father!” 
Although this reference to God is a departure from the reverent Hebrew tetragrammatos  title, “YHWH;” it express God’s desire to have an intimate relationship with His children! A crucial caveat that will secure our glorification and the inheritance of God’s kingdom, is to endure and bind our personal suffering to the suffering of Christ Jesus! 

THE GOSPEL READING: Jesus appear to recognize a woman who for eighteen years was unable to straighten her back. Our Lord put a self-evident question to the woman (v12) which implied that the woman was healed from her affliction some time ago to the extent that she had no need to walk in a crooked manner! Jesus proceeded to do a work of mercy by laying His hands upon this woman to invoke a special blessing on the Sabbath day, which raised the ire of the temple officials who were oblivious to the fact that the Sabbath was in fact instituted and ordered to heal and sanctify God’s children!

We are reminded that whilst we have been set free from bondage at our baptism and confirmation, Satan will ever attempt to remind us of our weakness and lure us to behave in a self deprecating way. Today’s reflection seek to remind us of the importance that we attend Holy Mass on the Lords day (Rom 14:6) especially if we suffer from scrupulosity! This is our opportunity when we give thanks and honor to Christ who have and continue to set us His son’s and daughters free from our infirmities, when we partake in the Eucharistic life giving food and drink to make us upright citizens of God’s kingdom!

LET US PRAY:Psalms 68:2,4,6-7,20-21

2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before fire, let the wicked perish before God!
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds; his name is the LORD, exult before him!
6 God gives the desolate a home to dwell in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.7 O God, when thou didst go forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness, 20 Our God is a God of salvation; and to GOD, the Lord, belongs escape from death.21 But God will shatter the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.

Author. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.