Rules Vs. People

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In today’s Gospel. The disciples are hungry, so they pick heads of grain and eat them. The Pharisees see this and immediately ask, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” It is interesting that they notice the rule before they notice the hunger. They see the action, but they miss the person. And maybe that is the danger Jesus is exposing today: we can become so focused on being correct that we forget why God gave us His law in the first place.

The theme I want to reflect on is this: when rules forget their purpose, they can become walls instead of guides. Jesus is not saying that the law does not matter. He is not telling us that we can simply do whatever we want. In fact, Jesus respects the law deeply. But He reminds us that every commandment of God is meant to lead us into life, love, freedom, and communion with Him. The sabbath was given as a gift, a day for people to rest in God. But somehow, the Pharisees had turned that gift into a burden.

And we can do the same thing in our spiritual lives. We can go to Mass, say our prayers, follow every rule, and still become hard toward people. We can know what is right and still fail to love. Sometimes we can even use religion as a way of judging someone else. We see that they missed Mass, that they do not pray like us, that they do not live the way we think they should, and immediately we become like the Pharisees: watching the grain instead of noticing the hunger. Jesus asks us to go deeper. Before we ask, “Did they break the rule?” perhaps we should also ask, “What are they carrying? What are they hungry for? How can I bring them closer to God?”

Then Jesus says something powerful: “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.” In other words, the center of our faith is not a rulebook. The center is a Person. Jesus Christ. Every devotion, every discipline, every commandment, every sacrifice is meant to bring us closer to Him and make us more like Him. If our prayer makes us proud, something has gone wrong. If our knowledge of the faith makes us harsh, something has gone wrong. If following the rules makes us less compassionate, then perhaps we have remembered the rule but forgotten the Lord.

So today, maybe the question is not simply, “Am I following the rules?” The deeper question is: Is following Jesus changing my heart? Am I becoming more patient, more merciful, more willing to see the person in front of me? Because holiness is not about lowering God’s standards. It is about allowing God’s truth to become love inside us. The Pharisees knew the sabbath. Jesus knew the Father’s heart. And that is what He wants to give us too: not only knowledge of what is right, but a heart that understands why it is right.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, sometimes I see rules more clearly than I see people. Keep my heart from becoming hard or judgmental. Teach me to love Your truth without losing Your mercy. May everything I do in my faith lead me closer to You and help others encounter You through me. Give me a heart that is faithful, compassionate, and free. Amen.

– Homily by Rev Fr Patrick Agbeko