The religious leaders opposed Jesus mainly because He challenged their authority,

Jesus forgave sins and called God His Father, which the religious leaders considered blasphemy.

Large crowds followed Jesus. Leaders worried that Jesus would start a political movement

and the Roman Empire would destroy the nation in response.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊    

1 Corinthians 5:1-8

You have

Become news, with a case of immorality, and such a case that is not even found among pagans.

Yes, one of you has taken, as wife, his own stepmother. And you feel proud!

Should you not be in mourning, instead, and expel the one who did such a thing?

For my part, although I am physically absent, my spirit is with you and, as if present,

I have already passed sentence on the man who committed such a sin. Let us meet together,

you and my spirit, and in the name of our Lord Jesus, and with his power, you shall deliver him to Satan,

 

for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit be saved in the day of Judgment.

This is not the time to praise yourselves. Do you not know that a little yeast makes the whole mass of dough rise?

Throw out, then, the old yeast and be new dough. If Christ became our Passover, you should be unleavened bread.

Let us celebrate, therefore, the Passover, no longer with old yeast, which is sin and perversity;

let us have unleavened bread, that is purity and sincerity.

 

Ps 5:5-6, 7, 12

 Lead me in your justice, Lord.

 

＊＊＊ 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 to 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.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

Conflict is often among us.

The Pharisees used the Sabbath to criticize Jesus for healing a paralyzed man. So Jesus asked them:

"Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or evil, to save life or to kill?"

The Pharisees wanted to destroy Jesus because they did not want to be overtaken in fame and power.

Competition and rivalry are unavoidable in our society and the church, so conflict is often among us.

If our purpose in ministry is to live out and share the Word of God, why don't we unite?