Saturday of week 22 in Ordinary Time
First Reading
1 Corinthians 4:6–15
Take Apollos and myself as an example and remember the maxim: ‘Keep to what is written.’ It is not for you, so full of your own importance, to go taking sides for one man against another. In any case, brother, has anybody given you some special right? What do you have that was not given to you? And if it was given, how can you boast as though it were not? Is it that you have everything you want – that you are rich already, in possession of your kingdom, with us left outside? Indeed I wish you were really kings, and we could be kings with you! But instead, it seems to me, God has put us apostles at the end of his parade, with the men sentenced to death; it is true – we have been put on show in front of the whole universe, angels as well as men. Here we are, fools for the sake of Christ, while you are the learned men in Christ; we have no power, but you are influential; you are celebrities, we are nobodies. To this day, we go without food and drink and clothes; we are beaten and have no homes; we work for our living with our own hands. When we are cursed, we answer with a blessing; when we are hounded, we put up with it; we are insulted and we answer politely. We are treated as the offal of the world, still to this day, the scum of the earth.
I am saying all this not just to make you ashamed but to bring you, as my dearest children, to your senses. You might have thousands of guardians in Christ, but not more than one father and it was I who begot you in Christ Jesus by preaching the Good News.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 144(145):17–21
The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The Lord is just in all his ways
and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him,
who call on him from their hearts.
The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
He grants the desires of those who fear him,
he hears their cry and he saves them.
The Lord protects all who love him;
but the wicked he will utterly destroy.
The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
Let me speak the praise of the Lord,
let all mankind bless his holy name
for ever, for ages unending.
The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Luke 6:1–5
One sabbath Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples were picking ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them. Some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath day?’ Jesus answered them, ‘So you have not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God, took the loaves of offering and ate them and gave them to his followers, loaves which only the priests are allowed to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’
Reflection
Paul begins with a question that leaves little room for pride: “What do you have that was not given to you?” Our lives, abilities, opportunities and even our capacity to respond to God are gifts before they become achievements. Forgetting this turns gratitude into entitlement and service into competition. The Corinthians have begun attaching themselves to particular teachers as though the gifts of God could be possessed by one group and used against another.
Paul refuses the status they try to create around Christian leadership. While some in Corinth imagine themselves already rich, influential and secure, the apostles appear weak, homeless and despised. Their authority is not authenticated by comfort or celebrity but by their resemblance to the crucified Christ. They work with their hands, endure mistreatment and answer curses with blessing. The Catechism describes the apostles as Christ’s chosen witnesses and the foundations of his Church, sent to continue his mission rather than establish their own importance (CCC 857–860).
Paul’s severe language is nevertheless paternal. He is not humiliating the Corinthians for pleasure; he wants to bring his “dearest children” back to their senses. Christian correction should have the same purpose. It is meant to restore communion and awaken truth, not to display the superiority of the person giving it. Paul speaks sharply because he loves the community and sees spiritual pride damaging its life together.
The psalm directs our attention away from human rank and towards the character of God. The Lord is just, loving and near to those who call upon him sincerely. He hears the cry of the vulnerable and becomes their refuge. The apostles may look insignificant by worldly standards, but their dignity does not depend upon public admiration. It rests in the nearness of the God who sees their labour and remains faithful amid their suffering.
This assurance matters because Paul’s response to hostility cannot be sustained by willpower alone. Blessing those who curse us and answering insults politely require a heart formed by grace. Such patience is not passive acceptance of injustice. It is a refusal to let another person’s contempt determine who we become. God’s nearness gives us room to respond as disciples rather than merely react from wounded pride.
In the Gospel, the Pharisees see the disciples picking grain on the sabbath and immediately focus upon the apparent violation. Jesus answers from Scripture, recalling how David fed himself and his companions with bread ordinarily reserved for the priests. Human hunger is not an inconvenience to be ignored while protecting the appearance of religious precision.
Jesus does not abolish the sabbath; he reveals its Lord and therefore its deepest meaning. The sabbath is God’s gift, made for worship, rest and the restoration of human life. The Catechism teaches that Jesus respected its holiness while also giving an authoritative interpretation of it: “The Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath” (CCC 2173). Sunday, the Christian fulfilment of the sabbath, remains a day devoted to worship, joy, rest and works of mercy (CCC 2174–2186).
The First Reading and Gospel expose the same spiritual danger. We can receive a gift from God and gradually treat it as our own possession. The Corinthians turn teachers into badges of superiority; the Pharisees treat the sabbath as a measure by which to condemn hungry disciples. In both cases, a divine gift becomes narrowed by human pride.
Christ restores each gift to its proper purpose. Apostolic ministry exists to preach the Good News and build up God’s people. The sabbath exists to honour God and renew human life in his presence. Our own gifts are also entrusted to us for service. They become fruitful when they lead towards gratitude, mercy and communion rather than self-importance.
One line to carry today:
Everything God gives us finds its purpose when it becomes a gift for others.
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