Gospel of the Day
Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 13:10–17
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years
had been crippled by a spirit;
she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said,
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her,
and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
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.”
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?
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?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated;
and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him
Looking as Christ looks
The first thing that stands out in this Gospel is that it is Jesus who sees the bent-over woman, calls her, and sets her free.
This attentive and compassionate gaze is a key for married life: conjugal love is renewed when we are attentive to one another and look at our spouse with the gaze with which God looks at them.
There are times when a husband or wife may be “bent over” by daily burdens, resentments, fears, or silences, and it is precisely then that God asks us to go out to meet them and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, heal and free them.
This merciful gaze toward the other must be constant. We should not wait for the “right” moment to act — even if it is the “Sabbath”, we must do it. We are called to be quick in love, always alert, and whenever we see our spouse starting to “bend over”, we must, following Jesus’ example, look with compassion, draw near, reach out with tenderness, and help them rise again.
Jesus shows that charity — true love — is above the law. The law only makes sense if it leads us to Him. Therefore, in marriage, spouses are called to seek communion above their own reasoning or criteria. In that communion, spouses are not bound by what “should be done”, nor do they settle for a mediocre love, but rather love as Jesus loves: with freedom, tenderness, and truth. And that way of loving heals, straightens, and lifts up.
Applied to Married Life
(Martha and John discuss the Gospel)
Martha: What hope this Gospel gives! Eighteen years of illness — and she is healed.
John: Yes, Jesus sees her and doesn’t wait for her to ask for anything. He simply looks at her, calls her, and frees her. I wish we could always have that same look between us. So often, we get caught up in our own things and fail to notice how the other is doing.
Martha: It’s true that sometimes the other person doesn’t make it easy — bent over by work, the house, the children… they don’t even realise it. But look how beautiful this is: Jesus touches her and makes her stand up straight. His touch straightens her. Maybe in marriage that means touching the other’s heart with tenderness, not with reproach.
John: And what a difference between Jesus and the synagogue leader. The synagogue leader gets angry because He healed her on the Sabbath. How many times do we also have our own “Sabbaths”: “They don’t deserve it right now”, “I’m tired”, “I don’t have time”, “We’ll talk tomorrow”…
Martha: It’s true — how often we postpone love, forgiveness, or a kind word, because we expect the other person to take the first step. Jesus doesn’t wait for the perfect moment; He loves and frees as soon as He encounters a need.
John: How great is the Lord!
Martha: What do you think about us going to Mass during the week too — to let ourselves be looked at by Christ and healed of our own “bentness”?
John: Wonderful idea, my love. What would I do without you?
Mother,
Teach us to love above the rules,
to prefer communion over being right,
and always to make your charity
the measure of our words and actions.
Blessed be God who teaches us so much.