Colossians 1:22-23, Ps 54, Luke 6:1-5
In the first reading today St. Paul gives us a glimpse of a community before and after they have come to know Christ. We are not sure how much he is exagerating but his point is very clear. Before coming to know the Lord, through Paul’s preaching, the community of the Colossians was in a dysfunctional state. They were separated from one another, there was ongoing hostility in the community there were all kinds of “evil” things going on. Paul reminds them of this in order that they remember who they were and could give thanks for who they had now become.
It reminds me of the old standard “Amazing Grace”. When one experiences the grace of God in our lives we cannot remain the same, we cannot help but be transformed. The Colossians, in coming to know Jesus, were now a Christian community. Not perfect, of course, but well on their way to learning to care for one another, in celebrating one another and not taking each other for granted.
Paul reminds the community to persevere in their newfound faith. That might seem a strange thing to say since God’s grace is freely given but at the same time we believe that God delights in our response to His grace. Perseverance then means both acknowledging what God has done for us and reciprocating God’s love.
On the first Saturday of the month at St. Mary’s we take time after mass to adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament but there are many other ways that we show God that we love and appreciate Him, and one important way is in how we treat each other as the Colossians were coming to discover.
In the Gospel we see Jesus testify to his power over the Sabbath. In picking and eating grain on that most holy of days set aside for rest and worship Jesus reminds us that the Sabbath is His day, it is God’s day and that he wants to share it with us as David shared food with his soilders and Jesus shared food with his friends. As we break bread together, as we adore Christ in the Blessed sacrament we acknowledge that power which God has to change and transform our lives
