7/20/2012 – Friday of 15th week of ordinary time – Matthew 12:1-8

       The Pharisees criticized the disciples of Jesus for violating the Sabbath.  They had gone into the fields and had picked grains to eat on the Sabbath day when they were hungry; the Pharisees considered this to be work, which was prohibited by Jewish law on the Sabbath.  We can be so occupied with the strict interpretation of the law that we lose sight of the love of God.  We can be rigid in our adherence of God’s law, but if we lack love and mercy, what does that mean?

         Today is the anniversary of the death of Pope Leo XIII, who died back on July 20, 1903.  Leo was pope for approximately 25 years at the end of the 19^th century and at the dawning of the 20^th century.  He is most remembered in our Church for writing the encyclical Rerum Novarum, which is considered the first major encyclical devoted to Catholic social teaching in the modern era.  Rerum Novarum came out at a time when workers were being exploited all over the world, where children were forced to work in deplorable conditions, where the poor were not afforded many opportunities to live in dignity and justice.  Rerum Novarum is still considered a ground-breaking work today that celebrates God’s love and mercy, that called us to implement justice and mercy in the way we treat our brothers and sisters in society, especially those least of our brothers and sisters.  Today, we have a lot of social programs in our society and unions that fight for the rights of workers, but many wonder if our modern social programs have locked the poor into a system that lacks the justice and dignity of God and enslaves them in another way.

         It is not an easy thing to examine what is going on in our hearts or what is going on in society.  Do we approach God in a rigid, unforgiving way, or we see love and mercy at the heart of God’s message?