DO GOOD ALWAYS

(Hebr. 7:1-3, 15-17, Ps. 110, Mk. 3:1-6)

The discussion that ensues between Jesus and the elders of the people in the gospel reading of today is one that set out to point to us that goodness is of the natural order; it is to be to come out of us naturally without anything standing in our way. Jesus asked "Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save a life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing." They refused an answer to Jesus' question because they knew that it is a noble duty to save lives and do good, yet their selfishness and blind obedience to the law would make them murmur at Jesus' concern for the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath.

Jesus would show us how ready He is to attend to us in every one of our lives issues, and through this, He teaches the Pharisees and all of us to do the good we can, whenever we can, however we can, wherever we can. There should be no limit or barrier to doing good. You cannot do it enough. Life is precious and we should do everything we can to sustain it, anywhere and everywhere.

If there is anything that modern man should pay keen attention to, it is the very many things that He puts in place which consciously or unconsciously prevent him from paying serious attention to the dignity of the human person. This plays out in different forms and different areas of our existence. There is no doubt that many are still prevented from enjoying the goodness of life which God offers due to actions of men and women that pose a great threat/danger to their freedom and existence. Jesus has come to give us life in abundance and this is to become our preoccupation every day and every time.

The evil of man's heart plays out in the action of the Pharisees after the cure; they would plot and seek ways to destroy Jesus. Who goes about seeking the destruction of one who cares so much about the other? Goodness should ordinarily beget goodness but this is sometimes not the case when we allow selfishness, envy, and hatred to rule us. Hence, we are to open our hearts and become more positive about happenings around us. God can use whomever He deems fit for whatever He wishes, our is not to become jealous of who God is using, rather, we should better recognize where He wants to use us and so with our open minds contribute our quota and spread goodness as much as we can breaking through all barriers.

Let us pray: May we who have enjoyed your goodness O Lord continue to seek out to do good everywhere we find ourselves. Amen