The Sabbath Was Made for Man

Gospel Reflection for Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 - Mark 2:23-28

I don’t know about you but when I hear the word Sabbath, rightly or wrongly, I immediately think of rest or that I should be resting.

It is such a challenging idea to give a whole day over to rest, to pause our daily chores, duties, and work. If I’m being honest Sundays are a day of management for me. From getting the kids up, fed and ready for Mass, to planning and preparing for the week ahead. Groceries are purchased, a meal plan set, one or two of those meals are prepped, laundry is finished, floors swept, and the kitchen is brought back to some sense of order.

But rest - that is usually the last thing on my mind.

So what does the Sabbath mean for us today, in a modern world full of demands on our time and distractions in the palm of our hands?

In Today’s gospel we see the scene of Jesus and His disciples walking through a field of grain on the Sabbath. As they meander along they begin to pluck the heads of grain. Pharisees nearby saw what was happening and immediately questioned the situation with “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?”

Jesus shares with them the story of David and his companions starving, of David entering God’s house and eating the bread of offering and sharing with those with him. It was not lawful, yet David did so. Then Jesus very clearly states “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states that “Just as God ‘rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done’ human life has a rhythm of work and rest. The institution of the Lord’s Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social and religious lives.”

It goes a bit further in CCC 2186, “Christians will also sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and relatives, often difficult to do on other days of the week. Sunday is a time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind, and meditation which furthers the growth of the Christian interior life.”

And finally, CCC 2191 states, “The Church celebrates the day of Christ’s Resurrection on the ‘eighth day,’ Sunday, which is rightly called the Lord’s Day.”

Friends, when we read Jesus’ words “The sabbath was made for man” I invite you to reflect on what that means. As humans we need rest, we need leisure, and space to reflect. Space to allow God’s quiet voice to be heard. In a world that is moving at a dizzying pace, expecting us to optimize our health, our diets, our reading list, our thoughts, our work, and our algorithms — rest can feel foreign, or even like failure. But the Lord made it clear what the Sabbath is for and the Church backs that up in her teachings. It is a day for rest. For resting in the Lord, focusing on family and the cultivation of the mind. It is a day for setting the rhythm of our lives according to how God made us — for both work and rest.

So how can we approach our Sundays as this “eighth day”? I invite you to reflect on how giving this day over fully to the Lord, making Him the center of not only our Sabbath but of our every moment is the beginning of ordering our days as God intended. As Jesus said “so the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath.”

Let us ensure Him the proper place both in our hearts and in our lives.

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

Gustave Doré. 1891. The Disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath.