Emphasis Preaching Journal

Our neighbor's misfortune is always an opportunity for us to be of help to our neighbor. In the Gospel today, Jesus responds to the need of a father, heartsick over the illness of his child. Here, embedded in instructions about the Sabbatical year, we find an admonishment to come to the aid of a fellow Israelite in distress. So, too, the second half of the summary of the law is embedded in ritual teaching. Here we see a basic fundamental of Jewish law: the needs of people are more important than property, since all wealth is God's gift to his children and we are stewards of it.