Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 11, 2023
On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught,
and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up and stand before us.”
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Reflection
For the people of Israel, the Sabbath was a day of rest, on which no work was to be done. For the scribes and Pharisees in this gospel, this proscription included even works of mercy like the healing that Jesus gave the poor man with the withered hand. Jesus poses the question he does in order to ascertain whether the scribes and Pharisees understand the true spirit of the Sabbath as a holy day in which all people are invited to participate in God’s divine rest.
Their silence indicates that they are not at all concerned with the spirit of the Sabbath, but only the letter of the laws surrounding its observance. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus looks around at the silent scribes and Pharisees “with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart” (Mk 3:5), and he cures the man’s affliction, demonstrating that works of love and mercy should never be confined to certain days of the week. In the face of this miraculous healing, the hardened hearts of the scribes and Pharisees wither altogether: in their fury, they begin conspiring to destroy Jesus.
Confronted with this passage, I have to ask myself: has my heart withered into pusillanimity—into a narrowness that has no room for the healing love of Jesus? Have I hardened my heart to such a degree that I no longer want Jesus to act as he wishes to act in my life?
Lord Jesus, as you bid the man to stretch out his hand, help us to release our grip on our preconceived notions of what our relationship with you should look like. Help us to open our heart to the ways you want to heal us, so that we might enjoy more fully the gift of divine life you long to give us.
Prayer
There is much in my life that is withered. How many relationships are unhealthy? How many times have I turned away from a chance to help? How few people do I truly open up to and offer myself for? Lord, help me to stretch out my hand, my heart and my entire being so that you can restore me to the fullness of love and health, generosity and openness. Amen.
Saint of the Day

Hyacinth and Protus were brothers who were killed for their faith.
Tradition holds that Hyacinth and Protus were the companions of St. Eugenia. Eugenia came from a wealthy family and fled from her father's control to pursue a life devoted to God. Her father was a high ranking official in Alexandria and she escaped into the desert to live with ascetics. Hyacinth and Protus accompanied her and the three were baptized together by Helenus, the bishop of Heliopolis. The two men devoted themselves to living out the practices of early monasticism in the Egyptian desert and committed much of their time to studying sacred scripture.
Hyacinth and Protus accompanied Eugenia to Rome to spread the faith and were arrested in the mid-third century in the course of the Valerian persecutions of Christians, began by emperor Valerian and continued by his son, emperor Gallienus. They were scourged but refused to deny their faith so they were beheaded.
The tomb of Hyacinth was discovered in 1845, undisturbed, with an inscription that indicated that the martyr was buried on this date. Inside the tomb were charred bones and traces of expensive material. Relics of St. Hyacinth rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
A tomb nearby bore an inscription that indicated that it held the martyr Protus, but was empty—his relics were said to have been removed in the ninth century, and moved several times since then.
An ancient account describes these two men as brothers, Romans who were arrested and killed during a Christian persecution. Their image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.
Sts. Hyacinth and Protus, brothers who gave their lives for their faith, pray for us!