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Gospel Reading for January 20, 2026 – Mark 2: 23-28
REAL ESSENCE
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”
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The Pharisees were at it again – being TOO LEGALISTIC about religious practices thereby losing the REAL ESSENCE of the practices. The disciples had to eat so they picked the heads of grain. What was wrong with that? They had to eat, and Sabbath is a day to celebrate LIFE, not death. The Lord’s Day is a day to remember and thank the Lord for the many blessings we received during the week. It is a day when we give focus on our relationship with God as individual persons, as family, and as community. It is a day when we unite ourselves and our family with the whole Family of God in the Eucharistic Celebration.
The Pharisees were not really sincere in following the Law of Moses as they had hidden agenda, one of which was to make themselves look holy and righteous, and another was to have power over those ignorant of the Law and make themselves look intelligent and knowledgeable. In the case of Jesus, they wanted to stop him and used the Sabbath Law as a weapon against him because what Jesus was preaching and doing, laid bare their hidden agenda, their hypocrisy.
Those of us in Church, especially those of us who play important roles in the Church, have to be very careful we don’t become like the Pharisees. How VERY IRONIC it would have been, if the disciples Jesus chose to continue what he had begun, turned into Pharisees.
As the Church, we are called to be like Jesus, our head, who did more than simply preach and pray. He showed compassion for sinners, the sick, the possessed, and the hungry, treating everyone as his own family.
Lord Jesus, help us to be the family you prayed for us to be!
