A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians
Col 1:21-23
Brothers and sisters:
You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds;
God has now reconciled you
in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death,
to present you holy, without blemish,
and irreproachable before him,
provided that you persevere in the faith,
firmly grounded, stable,
and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard,
which has been preached to every creature under heaven,
of which I, Paul, am a minister.
From the Gospel according to Luke
6:1-5
While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath,
his disciples were picking the heads of grain,
rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said,
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?
How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,
which only the priests could lawfully eat,
ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
The power attributed to Christ over the Law, which implies a divine authority, is demonstrated by the fact that He does not create another Law by abolishing the old one: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). It is clear that God could not “abolish” the Law that He Himself gave. Rather, as Jesus does, He can clarify its full meaning, help people understand its true sense, correct false interpretations and arbitrary applications, to which the people and even their teachers and leaders, succumbing to the weaknesses and limitations of the human condition, have bent it. […]
We must also remember the response Jesus gave to the Pharisees, who reproached His disciples for plucking heads of grain in the fields to eat them on the Sabbath, thus violating the Mosaic Law. Jesus first cites the example of David and his companions, who did not hesitate to eat the “bread of the offering” to satisfy their hunger, and the example of the priests, who do not observe the law of rest on the Sabbath because they perform their duties in the temple. Then He concludes with two categorical statements, unheard of for the Pharisees: “But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here…” and: “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Mt 12:6-8; cf. Mk 2:27-28). These statements clearly reveal Jesus’ awareness of His divine authority. To define Himself as “one greater than the temple” was a clear allusion to His divine transcendence. To proclaim Himself “Lord of the Sabbath,” that is, of a Law given by God Himself to Israel, was an open proclamation of His authority as the head of the messianic kingdom and the promulgator of the new Law.
Thus, it was not simply a matter of exceptions to the Mosaic Law, which were also allowed by the rabbis in very limited cases, but a reintegration, a completion, and a renewal that Jesus enunciates as timeless: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” (Mt 24:35). What comes from God is eternal, as God Himself is eternal. (St. John Paul II, General Audience, 1987)
Gospel and Word of the Day – 06 September 2025 –
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians
Col 1:21-23
Brothers and sisters:
You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds;
God has now reconciled you
in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death,
to present you holy, without blemish,
and irreproachable before him,
provided that you persevere in the faith,
firmly grounded, stable,
and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard,
which has been preached to every creature under heaven,
of which I, Paul, am a minister.
From the Gospel according to Luke
6:1-5
While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath,
his disciples were picking the heads of grain,
rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said,
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?
How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,
which only the priests could lawfully eat,
ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
The power attributed to Christ over the Law, which implies a divine authority, is demonstrated by the fact that He does not create another Law by abolishing the old one: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). It is clear that God could not “abolish” the Law that He Himself gave. Rather, as Jesus does, He can clarify its full meaning, help people understand its true sense, correct false interpretations and arbitrary applications, to which the people and even their teachers and leaders, succumbing to the weaknesses and limitations of the human condition, have bent it. […]
We must also remember the response Jesus gave to the Pharisees, who reproached His disciples for plucking heads of grain in the fields to eat them on the Sabbath, thus violating the Mosaic Law. Jesus first cites the example of David and his companions, who did not hesitate to eat the “bread of the offering” to satisfy their hunger, and the example of the priests, who do not observe the law of rest on the Sabbath because they perform their duties in the temple. Then He concludes with two categorical statements, unheard of for the Pharisees: “But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here…” and: “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Mt 12:6-8; cf. Mk 2:27-28). These statements clearly reveal Jesus’ awareness of His divine authority. To define Himself as “one greater than the temple” was a clear allusion to His divine transcendence. To proclaim Himself “Lord of the Sabbath,” that is, of a Law given by God Himself to Israel, was an open proclamation of His authority as the head of the messianic kingdom and the promulgator of the new Law.
Thus, it was not simply a matter of exceptions to the Mosaic Law, which were also allowed by the rabbis in very limited cases, but a reintegration, a completion, and a renewal that Jesus enunciates as timeless: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” (Mt 24:35). What comes from God is eternal, as God Himself is eternal. (St. John Paul II, General Audience, 1987)
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians
Col 1:21-23
Brothers and sisters:
You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds;
God has now reconciled you
in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death,
to present you holy, without blemish,
and irreproachable before him,
provided that you persevere in the faith,
firmly grounded, stable,
and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard,
which has been preached to every creature under heaven,
of which I, Paul, am a minister.
From the Gospel according to Luke
6:1-5
While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath,
his disciples were picking the heads of grain,
rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said,
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?
How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering,
which only the priests could lawfully eat,
ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
The power attributed to Christ over the Law, which implies a divine authority, is demonstrated by the fact that He does not create another Law by abolishing the old one: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17). It is clear that God could not “abolish” the Law that He Himself gave. Rather, as Jesus does, He can clarify its full meaning, help people understand its true sense, correct false interpretations and arbitrary applications, to which the people and even their teachers and leaders, succumbing to the weaknesses and limitations of the human condition, have bent it. […]
We must also remember the response Jesus gave to the Pharisees, who reproached His disciples for plucking heads of grain in the fields to eat them on the Sabbath, thus violating the Mosaic Law. Jesus first cites the example of David and his companions, who did not hesitate to eat the “bread of the offering” to satisfy their hunger, and the example of the priests, who do not observe the law of rest on the Sabbath because they perform their duties in the temple. Then He concludes with two categorical statements, unheard of for the Pharisees: “But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here…” and: “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Mt 12:6-8; cf. Mk 2:27-28). These statements clearly reveal Jesus’ awareness of His divine authority. To define Himself as “one greater than the temple” was a clear allusion to His divine transcendence. To proclaim Himself “Lord of the Sabbath,” that is, of a Law given by God Himself to Israel, was an open proclamation of His authority as the head of the messianic kingdom and the promulgator of the new Law.
Thus, it was not simply a matter of exceptions to the Mosaic Law, which were also allowed by the rabbis in very limited cases, but a reintegration, a completion, and a renewal that Jesus enunciates as timeless: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” (Mt 24:35). What comes from God is eternal, as God Himself is eternal. (St. John Paul II, General Audience, 1987)