Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (6: 1-5) in which the Pharisees question Jesus about his disciples breaking the Sabbath by picking ears of corn as they walk through the fields. Fr Paul notes that we come to two stories in Luke’s Gospel about Jesus and the Sabbath. The one today is about the picking of corn on the Sabbath and the other, which we will hear on Monday, is about healing on the Sabbath. In this first story, we hear the Pharisees complaining that the disciples are working on the Sabbath. We need to understand it is not just the act of picking the corn, but we are also told in the Gospel how the disciples are rubbing the corn in order to eat the corn kernels. It is this act of rubbing and dislodging the corn that the Pharisees are deeming as work and because it is work, it is not allowed on the Sabbath. Jesus carefully answers the Pharisees with two points. One is specific and relates to David and one is more generalized. The story today is about the authority of Jesus, as Jesus refers David had authority to take the loaves of bread and the Son of Man, Jesus, has greater authority over the Sabbath itself. Fr Paul says we must always be mindful, particularly with the laws of our Church, that we don’t just slavishly follow the law like the Pharisees in the Gospel but we always remember to look for and apply the spirit of the law.