How do we view others who pass through our lives, those people we see from a distance? Do we make snap judgements about them? It’s what we explore in today’s reflection from the Daily Mass Readings.
The readings for Friday of Week Thirty can be found here
Some people enjoy being people watchers. They may spend time sitting outside cafes or waiting for a train, watching the world go by, taking delight in the snapshots of people’s lives, observing them and how they relate to one another.
In the gospel reading, Jesus is being watched carefully. The intention, though, is more serious and intense than simply watching passers by as they glide through life. His watchers are trying to catch him out. Once again, they are waiting to see if he will break the rules of the Sabbath. When Jesus throws it back on them as to whether it is lawful to heal on the sabbath, they remain silent.
It is easy to make quick judgements about people who pass through our lives. It could be something about the way they dress, behave or talk, and yet we have no idea what is happening deep within. We can tut at a badly behaved child screaming in the supermarket without realising that he or she is autistic. We can complain about the homeless man and not know that as a child he constantly lived in care because his mother was an alcoholic. We can beep impatiently at a car in front of us and not realise it is an elderly man driving away from the hospice where his wife is dying.
Perhaps at times—as we observe the world around us—we can pause and consider the passing acquaintances. Can we show less judgment and more patience? Who knows—we could be a blessing to them. And they, in turn, could be a blessing to us.
Mass today is at S Saviour’s Splott at 10am
South Cardiff Ministry Area 