"You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water?" (Lk 13: 15)
The above account taken from the gospel written by the Apostle Luke clearly shows the Levitical (Hebrew book of rules) dominated the minds and hearts of people; the clergy of the time also used it as a form of prestige. Rules are necessary to keep order, but if order is only for some and itself becomes an imprisonment - encouraging spite, hate, rebellion, and fuels dictatorship; this is ungodly and in terms of faith - a complete mockery of that which is holy!
The law of Moses was impossible to follow, human nature shows that if we go against our true selves in terms of righteousness, we automatically react - people begin to fight and eventually reject that which has been wrongfully imposed on them. Canon law (Church law) in certain regards NOT everything, but many aspects are in themselves human stupidities which are totally foreign to God and are in themselves a joke gone bad!
Lately, I have been giving pastoral care to priests who are not of my fold, none the less, a true bishop must never get middlemen involved between him and his clergy, but have the heart and the strength (not to mention something else) and be a father to his priests! So called Canon Law prohibits priests to re-marry.....especially young priests who are then expected to basically castrate themselves and be monks where clearly as the Apostle Paul exhorts that CELIBACY IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!
Marriage, is a sacred institution and needs to be upheld....but what about when people no longer love you, cheat on you, lie to you and destroy you? The conservative party would say "Crucifixion" but we clearly know that ONLY the Lord has done that for the whole of creation and none of our sufferings can match that! Are we so stupid to tell someone to numb your passions, forget your manhood, and one who is 40 (in the world not away from in in monasteries) must live like he is 80?
Lets say a few truths.......unmarried priests, bishops etc...NOT ALL, BUT A GOOD PART: PLAY UP!!!! They follow the canons outwardly, but on the side they like the pharisees - take their horses to water (do things on the side) WHO ARE WE KIDDING???? It is human nature we can't escape unless we are truly saintly and God gives us the grace to abandon ourselves and become like many holy men and women of the past - spirit filled!
The Sabbath is not only the day set apart, but a reminder that the Lord who is king and robes himself with glory came to free us from the shackles that bind us; the worst being the figment of our own imaginations that willfully bring stupidity upon us! The Lord calls us forth from the tombs of everyday stress, woe, and depression.....the only requirement is that we trust in him with the faith we have receved in holy baptism! Unfortunately, the church as institution has become a religious concentration camp where people don't get well, are encouraged to repress, and ultimately, self destruct! Fundamentalism proves that over and over again!
We are presented with a woman who was handicapped and who the law of Moses classified as cursed and unworthy of God's grace due to her deformity - stay away in other words! Yet, the Lord reminds the clerics of the time that Satan (the ancient deception) corrupts our understanding of what is and is not acceptable to God - WHO'S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL! Clearly, he (evil personified) via absurd rules has corrupted that which supposedly resembles holiness......will we ever learn????
"Thus, Jesus replied: "ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day?"
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