Mc 3,1-6 – Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr – Memory
There is a man with a paralyzed hand. It’s there, in the middle. He doesn’t speak, he doesn’t ask for anything, he doesn’t protest. It is only present, with its visible limit, with its fragility exposed. And around him there are other men watching, not to care, but to control. They want to see if Jesus will make a mistake, if he will break the rule, if he will compromise himself. The heart of the scene is not healing, but the clash between two gazes: one who sees a problem to manage, the other who sees a person to save.
Saturday becomes the battlefield of this struggle of perspective. Jesus calls man to the centermakes him visible, takes him away from the invisibility in which the fragile are often kept. And then he asks a question that unmasks everyone: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or evil, save a life or take it?”. The real alternative is not between rule and transgression, but between responsibility and indifference. The silence of those present is heavy. They don’t answer because the answer would force them to change. Because saying “doing good” means accepting that good does not always coincide with what is convenient, expected, regulated.
Sometimes good disturbs, breaks the balance, creates problems. Jesus becomes sad and indignant. Not because of man’s illness, but because of the hardness of hearts. A paralyzed hand can be healed. A paralyzed heart is much more difficult to move. Yet Jesus doesn’t stop. He heals anyway. He chooses life, even if this exposes him to rejection, to conspiracy, to the cross. Following Christ means accepting that good is not always neutralthat justice is not always calm, that fidelity to God can make us uncomfortable. But it also means discovering that every time we choose life someone really comes back to live. And we were the first because if Jesus had not used exceptions none of us would have ever been saved.
