Between standing up for your principles and caring for the needs of the people around you, which would you choose? - Daily Reflections January 20,2015

PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE

 

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

       I think it was Countryman who first reported the story about a very charitable Protestant couple who, along with many Catholics, helped a lot of Jewish families escape the wrath of the Gestapo during World War II. When they died, their Catholic friends worked for them to be buried in the Catholic cemetery. But they were not allowed by the local Church authorities. So what they did was to choose a plot of land right next to the fence of the Catholic cemetery. After the burial, during the night, the Catholics did the unthinkable. They moved the fence of the cemetery so as to enclose the newly buried couple within the confines of the Catholic cemetery.

       Sometimes, in our zeal to do the right thing, we end up not doing things rightly. At times, in our misguided attachment to rules and principles, we miss out on doing the proper thing.

          Putting the cart before the horse… Sounds strange, right?

       Well, what about this? Most garages now hold anything but cars. Cars stand out in the hot sun and garages contain mountains of items bought on sale just because they were on sale. Small wonder that, time and again, people hold what they call garage sale, where they sell for a song items stocked and left almost to rot in the garage, while the cars are left out to bake or freeze outside.

       The Pharisees were right in their “principle.” No one should work on the sabbath. The disciples, who probably were looking for a shortcut, passed through standing grain, picking some of them, and munching as they trudged along. They pounced on this to condemn the men and their leader. They preferred to keep the principle while disregarding persons.

       Jesus upholds the dignity of the person above all. He did not put the cart before the horse. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Between standing up for your principles and caring for the needs of the people around you, which would you choose?

 

Lord, help me to make love always the basis of all my choices and decisions.