Aug 28, 2026 Written by 

Law or hunger: conflicts of conscience

Incarnation, or emptiness of humanity

(Lk 6:1-5)

 

On the conversion’s journey, conflicts of conscience are not parentheses or accidents of the path, but crucial knots.

The genuineness of believing then generates implicative strenght and new expressive abilities.

 

According to ordinary religious assessments, the legislation was worth more than hunger... but God’s experience in the life overturns ideas elaborated by experts.

To be honest, observance of the Sabbath had become a central law not because of theological subtleties, very well because in the period of the Exile the weekly rest had allowed believers to gather, share hopes, encourage each other, maintain the identity of the people.

But legalism ended up stifling the spirit of the day of worship, once a sign of a freedom in the service of people’s faith and happiness.

Thus where Jesus arrives, every spiritual module empty of humanity crumbles, and the Incarnation takes hold: the place where God and man  seriously rest [other than the saturday!].

In the parallel passage of Mt (12:1-8), Jesus' response is more articulated and complete:

On Jewish Sabbath, priests had many more sacred and preparation engagements, slaughter and reordering of the Sanctuary, than the other days of the week, and the Torah obliged them... it happens to us too.

Again in Mt, the Lord quotes a famous phrase from the prophet Hosea - a man of raw experience, but who well defines the peak of intimacy with God:

an authentic Rite is to realize the hopes of our neighbour and to have the heart in the needs of others.

 

Christ emphasizes the poverty of every legalistic and hypocritical attachment in the mode of conceiving relations with the Father.

The sign of the Covenant with God, and Encounter [authentic sanctification] is adherence that continues in the plot of the days and in his active Person - not a ridiculous idolatry of observances or cultic parentheses.

Facts and rites celebrate love; and the sincere fulfilment does not follow the pedantic "as we should be", but expresses a Liberation of the person.

 

The biblical episode that Jesus quotes could perhaps appear not entirely pertinent to the theoretical question: his disciples did not seem to be kings or even priests.

Instead, in the new time that is urgent, yes: ‘sovereigns’ of one’s life by Gift and Call, as well as ‘mediators’ [of divine blessings on humanity] - and also Prophets.

The lovable God establishes with us a dialogue and a friendship that invites, gives impetus, transmits taste for doing.

It is the result of a messianic conscience as «Son of man» (v.5): transmissible to us, his brethren and friends - very united to him by Faith.

For this reason [after the call of the disciples and the first healings, then the vocation of Levi and the controversy about fasting] the Lord presents himself to the Pharisees in the royal stunt double of David, who is about to conquer the "kingdom" even with a small handful of followers.

In the time of the global crisis that affects the future, and still tries to calculate it by directing it a priori, according to selective interests, the challenge is more open than ever.

 

 

To internalize and live the message:

 

How did you perceive that you were reliving Christ in the fluency of the norms?

 

 

[Saturday 22th wk. in O.T.  September 5, 2026]

251 Last modified on Saturday, 05 September 2026 12:03
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

But what moves me even more strongly to proclaim the urgency of missionary evangelization is the fact that it is the primary service which the Church can render to every individual and to all humanity [Redemptoris Missio n.2]
Ma ciò che ancor più mi spinge a proclamare l'urgenza dell'evangelizzazione missionaria è che essa costituisce il primo servizio che la chiesa può rendere a ciascun uomo e all'intera umanità [Redemptoris Missio n.2]
Freedom and love coincide! On the contrary, obeying one’s selfishness leads to rivalry and conflict (Pope Benedict)
Libertà e amore coincidono! Al contrario, obbedire al proprio egoismo conduce a rivalità e conflitti (Papa Benedetto)
Are they not all spirits charged with a ministry, sent to serve those who are to inherit salvation? (Heb 1:14)
Non sono essi tutti spiriti incaricati di un ministero, inviati per servire coloro che devono ereditare la salvezza? (Eb 1,14)
The Church with its permanent contradiction: between the ideal and reality, the more annoying contradiction, the more the ideal is affirmed sublime, evangelical, sacred, divine, and the reality is often petty, narrow, defective, sometimes even selfish (Pope Paul VI)
La Chiesa con la sua permanente contraddizione: tra l’ideale e la realtà, tanto più fastidiosa contraddizione, quanto più l’ideale è affermato sublime, evangelico, sacro, divino, e la realtà si presenta spesso meschina, angusta, difettosa, alcune volte perfino egoista (Papa Paolo VI)
At first they say “yes” to God’s will, but their piety becomes routine and God no longer matters to them [Pope Benedict]
Essi, prima, dicono “sì” alla volontà di Dio. Ma la loro religiosità diventa routine, e Dio non li inquieta più [Papa Benedetto]
And «each of us can say: "for love to me"» (Pope Francis)
E «ognuno di noi può dire: “per amore a me”» (Papa Francesco)
We too, to reach a more conscious confession of Jesus Christ must follow, like Peter, a path made of attentive, caring listening (Pope John Paul II)
Anche noi per giungere a una più consapevole confessione di Gesù Cristo dobbiamo percorrere, come Pietro, un cammino fatto di ascolto attento, premuroso (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
It is a word that must be witnessed to and proclaimed explicitly, because without a consistent witness it proves to be less comprehensible and credible [Pope Benedict]
E’ una Parola che deve essere testimoniata e proclamata esplicitamente, perché senza una testimonianza coerente essa risulta meno comprensibile e credibile [Papa Benedetto]
The “reading and meditation of the word of God root us more deeply in Christ and guide our ministry as servants of reconciliation, justice and peace” (second Synod for Africa, Propositio 46)
La lettura e la meditazione della Parola di Dio ci radicano più profondamente in Cristo e orientano il nostro ministero di servitori della riconciliazione, della giustizia e della pace (Secondo Sinodo per l’Africa, Propositio 46)
That 'always seeing the face of the Father' is the highest manifestation of the worship of God. It can be said to constitute that 'heavenly liturgy', performed on behalf of the whole universe [John Paul II]
Quel “vedere sempre la faccia del Padre” è la manifestazione più alta dell’adorazione di Dio. Si può dire che essa costituisce quella “liturgia celeste”, compiuta a nome di tutto l’universo [Giovanni Paolo II]

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