Daily Gospel Reflection
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September 9, 2019
On a certain sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him.
Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” He got up and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?” After looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored.
But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
I once broke my collarbone and wrist in a cycling accident. The injuries were not serious, but they were a serious inconvenience. The collar bone fracture made it difficult to sleep on my back and I was uncomfortable most of the time. The injuries were on my dominant side so even everyday tasks were almost impossible for a while. From buttoning my shirt to opening a jar, I was asking people for help just to get through the day.
I was very grateful that the injuries weren’t more serious but I often lost sight of that in my frustration through the healing process. I just wanted to be done with it and get back to normal. When I reflected on those feelings for a bit, I realized that I wasn’t bothered by the pain as much as I was by the vulnerability of asking for help all the time.
In today’s gospel, Jesus heals a man with a withered hand. In this time, many people with disabilities, chronic medical problems, and mental health issues were kept on the margins of society. The Pharisees try to catch Jesus doing the “work” of healing on the sabbath, which was forbidden according to their interpretation of the law. But Jesus refuses to pass up the opportunity to bring healing, wholeness, acceptance, and inclusion to a person who needs it.
When I was scuffed up from a bike crash, I prayed for my injuries to heal quickly. In the end, the injuries helped me realize that what I really needed to be healed of was my concept of self-reliance. What Jesus teaches us in today’s gospel is that his healing is more than a physical process, it is a transformation of how we see the world.
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
St. Peter Claver is known for tirelessly caring for victims of the slave trade.
He was born 1581 in Catalonia, Spain, and was a bright student. After graduating from university with honors, he followed a call to the priesthood, entered the Jesuit order, and was sent to care for people in the New World. He landed in Cartagena, Colombia, and was ordained a priest there in 1615.
When he arrived, the slave trade had been established for nearly 100 years; Cartagena was a port that received many slaves captured from Congo and Angola. The conditions under which slaves were transported to the New World were horrific—a third died on the voyage. In spite of all this, some 10,000 slaves entered the Americas through Cartagena every year.
Peter Claver attached himself to work with a priest who was caring for the physical and spiritual needs of those enslaved. Though Peter was shy and introverted, he was methodical and organized and he gathered people to help him meet slave ships when they arrived in port.
When the enslaved disembarked, they were herded into a confined space for sorting. They had spent weeks locked in the ship’s hold and suffered greatly from inhuman treatment and the easy spread of illness. Peter and his band of helpers would carry medicine, food, bread, lemons, tobacco, and anything else they could get their hands on to be of aid.
“We must speak to them with our hands, before we try to speak to them with our lips,” Peter Claver said. He called himself the “slave of the slaves forever.”
He found interpreters who knew different African native languages and dialects and taught the enslaved about the Christian faith and the love of God. He tried to restore in them a sense of their human dignity, even though they had been degraded by their captors. He visited plantations to advocate for better conditions and even worked for the conversion of the slave owners. He served some 300,000 slaves in 40 years of service.
Peter Claver also would visit hospitals in Cartagena to care for the sick and poor there, and paid special attention to the imprisoned. It is said that no one faced the death penalty in Cartagena without Peter Claver present to give him consolation.
He was a sought-after confessor and would sometimes spend 15 hours a day hearing confessions. He would travel through the countryside to preach missions at parishes but would make a point of staying in the slaves’ quarters, not in the comfortable plantation homes. He preached in town squares, and his words were accompanied by the gifts of miracles and prophecy.
In 1650 he fell ill with a plague that was ravaging the region. He barely survived and spent the last few years of his life in pain. Trembling shook his body so much that he often could not even celebrate Mass. He was confined to his room and was often neglected or forgotten in the confusion of the crisis of the epidemic.
He died on this date in 1654, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. The image of liberated chains stands as a symbol for St. Peter Claver on the Eck Hall of Law. He is the patron saint of African-Americans and those who work for interracial justice.
St. Peter Claver, patron saint of African-Americans, you cared for slaves as they arrived from Africa—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Peter Claver is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Last accessed April 3, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
