The Gospel for Thursday of the 30th week in Ordinary Time is taken from Luke 14. On a Sabbath, Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and people there were observing him carefully. In front of him there was a man suffering dropsy. Jesus spoke to the scholars of law and Pharisees in reply, asking, is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath or not? But they kept silent. So he took the man, and after he had healed them, dismissed him.

Then he said to them, who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? But they were unable to answer his question. Father, there’s a way in which, when we’re following regulations and rules, we feel confident, confident that we’re doing everything that you’ve asked us to do. But in fact, it is not the heart of the gospel. It is not the heart of the Good News. The heart of the Good News is a way that we are touched so deeply by an awareness of where we haven’t been, that we’re shown so clearly where we need to be.

And it’s the transition that’s so important. After your reflection, I will close with a prayer. Closing Prayer Father, bless us with an openness to seeing our own faults, our own weaknesses. Help us not to fall into shame or disappointment or self condemnation, but rather simply to long for the gift that enables us to do the work. It’s not our work, it’s yours and ours. Help us to remember this, and we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.