Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Orthodox Churches.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Mark 2,23-28

It happened that one Sabbath day he was taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to make a path by plucking ears of corn. And the Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are they doing something on the Sabbath day that is forbidden?' And he replied, 'Have you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his followers were hungry- how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of the offering which only the priests are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?' And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of man is master even of the Sabbath.'

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

After the dispute on fasting, the evangelist Mark tells us of the dispute about the Sabbath. It is a crucial point in the doctrine of the people of Israel. The Pharisees saw that the disciples of Jesus, while walking in a field of grain on the Sabbath, gathered some heads of grain to eat, thus transgressing the law of resting on the Sabbath. But Jesus defended them by telling of a similar example that happened to David, who, fleeing from Saul who wanted to kill him, entered the temple and, with his companions, ate the consecrated bread reserved for the priests (1 Sam 21:2-7). Jesus added, "The sabbath was made ??for humankind and not humankind for the sabbath." With this statement, Jesus wants to show that salvation of humanity is what really matters in the law: not the formal observance of it. Human beings and their salvation are at the very heart of the Scriptures. Indeed, the Lord created the world and sent his own Son for the sake of humanity, to save them from sin and death. Therefore, believers are not so much called to observe rules, but rather to respond to the love of God and to live with love towards others. This is why the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. He came to save, not to condemn, to love and not to impose rules. And he asks each of us to follow him on this path, that of a love that saves.