30th October. The Sabbath. Be honest”, the group leader said, “What does the Sabbath day, or Sunday mean to us nowadays?”  “I sleep late.” “I enjoy going to my sodality meeting.”  “I love the atmosphere in church even it takes long.” “I feel guilty if I don’t go to Mass.”  “We still go to church together and then go out for breakfast afterwards. It is one of the joys of my week.”  “I have to work, no choice.”  “Is there really a choice about what we could do on Sundays?  Do we talk about it as a family, or use it as a time to get away from one another?”   Jesus’ healing of the woman on the Sabbath was even more than an act of kindness done to an animal, bound up, hungry, thirsty and hurting.                                                             

 Reflect, share, act. Scripture At that time Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  And there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity. When Jesus saw her he called her and said, “Woman you are freed from your infirmity.” From Luke 13:10-17.  Pope Francis: On Sunday our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the first day of the new creation, whose fruits are the Lord’s risen humanity, the pledge of the final transfiguration of all created reality. LS 237.  A few minutes can be found each day.  The communal journey of prayer culminates by sharing together in the Eucharist, especially in the context of the Sunday rest.  Jesus knocks on the door of families to share their Eucharistic supper. AL 318. Pray: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love, so that walking together we may renew the face of the earth.