Gospel for Monday, 30th Week In Ordinary Time

From: Luke 13:10-17

Jesus Cures a Woman on the Sabbath

[10] Now He (Jesus) 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.
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Commentary:

10-17. As was the custom, our Lord used to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Noticing this poor woman He uses His power and mercy to cure her. The ordinary people are delighted, but the ruler of the synagogue, apparently zealous about fulfilling the Law (cf. Exodus 20:8; 31:14; Leviticus 19:3-30), publicly upbraids our Lord. Jesus energetically censures this warped interpretation of the Law and stresses the need for mercy and understanding, which is what pleases God (cf. Hosea 6:6; James 2:13).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.