You would not have condemned these innocent men

Ex 11,10-12,14; Ps 115; Mt 12,1-8
19 JULY

Jesus uses the Old Scriptures to remove from the disciples the accusation of being transgressors of the law of the Lord. At that time it could also involve death by stoning. But the accusation was not against the disciples, but against Jesus who allowed such things as a Master in Israel. He made himself their accomplice and therefore responsible. In the face of hunger, every sacredness, every right and every law disappears. In the face of David’s hunger and his companions, the priest abolished the sacredness of the loaves.

David went to Ahimelech, the priest of Nob, who came trembling to meet him and asked, “Why are you alone? Is there no one with you?” David answered the priest: “The king gave me a commission and told me to let no one know anything about the business on which he sent me or the commission he gave me. For that reason I have arranged a meeting place with my men. Now what have you on hand? Give me five loaves, or whatever you can find.” But the priest replied to David, “I have no ordinary bread on hand, only holy bread; if the men have abstained from women, you may eat some of that.” David answered the priest: “We have indeed been segregated from women as on previous occasions. Whenever I go on a journey, all the young men are consecrated – even for a secular journey. All the more so today, when they are consecrated at arms!” So the priest gave him holy bread, for no other bread was on hand except the showbread which had been removed from the Lord’s presence and replaced by fresh bread when it was taken away (Cf. 1Sam 21,2-10).

The text of Hosea referred to by Jesus reveals to us a second highest truth. Faced with love of neighbour, rituality must also disappear. We know that the Fathers of the Church taught that between dressing an altar and a poor man, one must undress the altar and dress the poor. Mercy and not sacrifices. Bare altars but great mercy towards those who are poor and needy. The poor man is always Christ.

“Come, let us return to the Lord, For it is he who has rent, but he will heal us; he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds. He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, to live in his presence. Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord; as certain as the dawn is his coming, and his judgment shines forth like the light of day! He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth.” What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your piety is like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away. For this reason I smote them through the prophets, I slew them by the words of my mouth; For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts. But they, in their land, violated the covenant; there they were untrue to me. Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood. As brigands ambush a man, a band of priests slay on the way to Shechem, committing monstrous crime. In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: there harlotry is found in Ephraim, Israel is defiled. For you also, O Judah, a harvest has been appointed (Hos 6,1-11).

Charity towards our brothers is the measure of our true holiness. The Pharisees are falsely, immorally and sinfully holy, because their holiness is false, immoral and sinful. They have a law, tailored to their heart. The true law is always made on the measure of the heart of God, who wants only the good of man. The heart of God is the heart of Christ Jesus, who gives his life to the Father for the salvation of all.

At that time Jesus was going through a field of grain on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

True holiness is measured by true love. If love is false, holiness is also false.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints make us disciples with true love to be of true