BOKASYONG AGUSTINO MINISTRY

This is a reflection on Lk 6:1-5.

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Here in the seminary we are bounded by different rules and regulations, we are asked to do or not to do certain things. There are things that are allowed and of course, there are things which are not. We have to follow this in order to…, or we have to obey these for us to... Rules inside the seminary are important I guess that makes the seminary a formation house. Here we are taught to obey and to respect certain rules, rules which are ordinances of reason promulgated for the common good, for the sake of our formation to become good Augustinians someday and as well as for the good of our own community.

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I certainly know that sometimes it is not easy to obey and to follow the rules given to us. Especially when we feel that we are being oppressed or being limited by the rule itself. It is true for me that sometimes rules instead of promoting the common good become oppressive. These happens when the letter of the rules become more important than the spirit of the rules. In this situations I remind myself that in every rule there is a value that is hidden that I needed to realize and give more importance than just merely obeying it.

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As I read the Gospel, I was I bit shock, because it is as if Jesus is saying that it’s okay for the apostles not to obey the law, anyway he is with them, the son of man who is the Lord of the Sabbath. If that so I can tell our formators that it is okay for me to be late in the chapel because I am with Jesus or I can use the same excuse if I fall asleep in our prayers. So it is easy for me to say that as long as I am with Jesus its okay not to obey our rules.

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But of course these can’t be. I certainly know that this is not God wants to tell me and for me to understand the message of the gospel I asked this question what does Jesus mean when he said “the son of man is Lord and rules over the Sabbath”?

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I am sure we are all familiar with the creation story in genesis. After God had finished creating everything, on the seventh day God rested and that is the Sabbath day. Now I personally always thought it was strange that God had to rest – as if God could be tired from work. But as our creation professor taught us the purpose of God’s rest here is not to rest as how we understand resting, as in sleeping all day. God’s rest means to announce that creation is finished. That It is good! And God is satisfied with what has been created, and his rest is evidence that this is indeed true. At the center of Sabbath, then, is a time set apart, made Holy, It protects against overproduction, against burnout, against slavery by putting a stop to work. It also designates a time that work has been completed. And it reminds us that God is our salvation.

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Back to our gospel story, the Pharisees are correct in their interpretation. It was forbidden to glean from the fields according to the laws on Sabbath reaping. How does Jesus respond? By letting Scripture interpret Scripture. He cites a story from Samuel, a passage that is not even about Sabbath:

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In one sense, Jesus sets aside the laws of Sabbath just as David set aside the laws of sacred bread, and both for a common purpose: human need. The disciples were hungry after all. In this sense he fulfills the ultimate purpose of the Sabbath. Jesus is saying that there is a purpose to stopping, and it’s not just a stopping for the sake of following a law. We are called to stop in order to serve.

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So Sabbath is not merely about our own personal rest (although that’s important!), but it’s about helping others find rest as well. I think many of us can attest to the fact that we often find rest when we help others find it, when we stop thinking about ourselves. The ultimate meaning of the Sabbath becomes clear when we realize that it is not us, but it is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, who is Lord of the Sabbath.

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Brothers, if we are to know the true meaning of Sabbath, we must start with the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ. It would be much easier to say, “I just need to take a break once in a while because I’m working, praying or studying too hard, because that’s what is expected from me.” Or “ I have to take a rest because I am bombarded by the schedule and pressured by seminary activities” But to leave it that way would leave us as lords of our own Sabbaths.

We only deceive ourselves if we think that we can give ourselves the deep rest that we need simply by pampering our own selves. What we usually call “rest” is just another form of work. For example, how many times do we take a break by checking our facebook account to see who might justify our existence today? True rest comes from knowing one’s salvation through Christ. We are set free from our bondage to work, from our need to justify ourselves. Indeed, in Christ alone our rest is found. As our father St Augustine said “My heart is restless until it rest in you.”

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But we are also set free for sharing that rest with our brothers, with the people in Baseco and with the children we catechized during our Sunday apostolates. Remember that those apostolates are our rest, our rest with the Lord and with his people. Sabbath has its own urgency: how can we enjoy our rest when others cannot? People are hungry for Jesus Christ, the Gospel, for the Bread of Life.

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Jesus was sent on a mission by the Father, not to destroy life, but to save it, not to enslave, but to set free once he made it to the cross, he cried out, “It is finished! And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit,” for you, for me, for the whole world. Brothers, let us rest there with him tonight.

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May the force be with us.