Gospel reflection by Mark.

“But wisdom is proved right by her actions.” (Matthew 11:19)

My Twitter friend, Jon M. Sweeney (@jonmsweeney) tweeted out this week that as Christians, “We’d benefit from an essential Jewish teaching, Pikuach Nefesh, which means saving a human life should take priority over everything, even if and when it means breaking another law in the Torah.” (For reference, Jon is a Christian, his wife is a Rabbi).

The context was a discussion about the reopening of churches and in response to an article from the National Catholic Reporter regarding doing so cautiously. The article ended with the words, “If staying home from Mass means saving lives, then it’s the right thing to do.”

In the midst of our text this week, Jesus holds up the hypocrisy of critics that hit out at himself and John the Baptist. On one hand, John “comes never eating nor drinking.” The response? “He has a demon!” (v18) On the other, Jesus comes eating and drinking. The response? “He’s a drunkard and glutton; friend of tax collectors and ‘sinners’.” (v19)

So what are you to do?

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