You have to sympathize with the Pharisees. The Sabbath is at the heart of Jewish belief and practice — “a cathedral of time” in Abraham Heschel’s lapidary description. When they saw Jesus treating the Sabbath with less than the reverence they believed it deserved they were, of course, aghast. What Jesus wanted them (and us) to understand is that the Sabbath and all religious practices are not a procrustean bed we must conform to. Rather, these practices are shaped to help us to encounter God. “The Sabbath is made for man.” Pope Francis has issued a similar challenge about the marriage laws of the Church. Does our current practice in fact help to promote and preserve marriage? Can we find structures that do so better?
