St. Augustine Commentary on Gospel for Today (Mark 2: 23-28)

Today's Gospel is from Mark 2:23-28 and is as follows:

23 One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24And the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" 25And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26how he entered the house of God, when Abi'athar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?" 27And he said to them, "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; 28so the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath."

One commentary on this passage from a Catholic Church Father is from St. Augustine of Hippo, who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries. He wrote:

"The Lord, therefore, who is the Lord of the Sabbath, and who made man, and not the Sabbath for man, has power to do what He will with His own, and to dispense with the observance of the Sabbath, in order to do good to man. For He Himself is the true rest of the faithful, in whom we cease from our own works, as the Apostle says (Heb. 4:10), and are refreshed by the works of God."

In this commentary, St. Augustine emphasizes that Jesus, as the Son of Man and Lord of the Sabbath, has the authority to disregard the Sabbath laws in order to help people. He also references Hebrews 4:10, which states that the faithful will find rest in Jesus, rather than in the observance of the Sabbath.