Lk 6:1-5
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the corn fields and his disciples began to pick heads of grain crushing them in their hands for food.Some of the Pharisees asked them, “Why do you do what is forbidden on the Sabbath?” Then Jesus spoke, “Have you never read what David did when he and his men were hungry?” He entered the house of God, took and ate the bread of the offering and even gave some to his men, though only priests are allowed to eat that bread.” And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord and rules over the Sabbath.”
REFLECTION
When we say that Claire and Jane have “reconciled,” we usually mean that both women have modified their position from one of hostility to one of friendliness. They have both been reconciled to each other—the verb being used in the passive voice.
However, when it comes to our relationship with God, things are very different. God never needs to be reconciled to us, because he always loves us perfectly, even as he loves the demons in Hell, according to the greatest doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas. We need to be reconciled (i.e. changed) to God, but not God.
This state of affairs is perfectly reflected in the letters of the apostle Paul. With absolute consistency, not once does he say that God has been reconciled to us. As in today’s first reading, he insists that “God has reconciled you (to him).” Why is this? Because God has never been hostile to us, he has never ceased loving us, he has always been turned toward us, even while we were turning our backs on him by our sins. As Paul writes so poignantly: “While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God” (Rom 5:10).
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