St. Peter Claver. priest 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

 Colossians 1: 24-2: 3

 At present I rejoice when I suffer for you;

I complete in my own flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the Church.

For I am serving the Church since God entrusted to me the ministry to make the word of God fully known.  I mean that mysterious plan that for centuries and generations remained secret, and which God has now revealed to his holy ones.

 God willed to make known to them the riches and even the Glory that his mysterious plan reserved for the pagan nations: Christ is in you the hope for glory. This Christ we preach. We warn and teach everyone true wisdom, aiming to make everyone perfect in Christ.  For this cause I labor and struggle with the energy of Christ working powerfully in me.

I want you to know how I strive for you, for those of Laodicea and for so many who have not met me personally.  I pray that all may be encouraged. May you be established in love, that you may obtain all the riches of a full understanding and know the mystery of God, Christ himself.  For in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowl­edge.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 6: 6-11

  On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and began teaching. There was a man with a paralyzed right hand  and the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees watched him: Would ­Jesus heal the man on the Sabbath? If he did, they could accuse him.

 But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man, “Get up and stand in the middle.”  Then he spoke to them, “I want to ask you: what is allowed by the Law on the Sabbath, to do good or to do harm, to save life or destroy it?”  And Jesus looked around at them all.

Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored, becoming as healthy as the other.  But they were furious and began to discuss with one another how they could deal with Jesus.

 

Reflection gospel：

“TO SAVE LIFE OR DESTROY IT.”

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn10:10). This, according to Jesuit New Testament scholar Brendan Byrne, is the heart of Jesus mission. It is a life that is lived to the full; a life of peace, justice and love; a life filled with compassion and mercy, with tenderness and caring.

It is a new way of living where humans do not live in want, but abundance.A parishioner in our Sydney parish is in the third month of pregnancy when she was advised by her obstetrician to terminate her pregnancy. She was told that the pregnancy is risky because of her age (She is In her late forties.) and that there is big chance the baby will be borne with defects.

In a conversation with her, she recounted that after much prayer she and her husband decided to keep the baby, and that she continued to pray for the baby the rest of the pregnancy. Several months went past. On one Sunday evening, after the mass, I saw her with the baby on the pram. She told me they are so grateful that they decided to keep their baby. The last time I saw her and her family was few weeks before their flight back to England.