This Sunday we turn the page on the liturgical calendar and enter Ordinary Time (named for the counting of weeks with ordinals rather than because the Summer is unextraordinary). We begin the season with a reminder about the meaning of sabbath that seems perfect Summer! Deuteronomy makes clear that sabbath-keeping is meant for the welfare of all. God delivered the Israelites out of slavery, so they should observe this freedom with a day of rest. No one should work seven days a week; even slaves and foreigners should be able to rest. Yet human beings can turn even the most liberating religious practice into a life-destroying rule. Jesus does not reject sabbath-keeping, but defends its original life-enhancing meaning. Our worship and our religious way of life are to lead to restoration: the hungry being fed and the sick being healed.
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