Friday of
the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 435
Reading 1
Brothers and sisters:
Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Now it is of course required of stewards
that they be found trustworthy.
It does not concern me in the least
that I be judged by you or any human tribunal;
I do not even pass judgment on myself;
I am not conscious of anything against me,
but I do not thereby stand acquitted;
the one who judges me is the Lord.
Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time,
until the Lord comes,
for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness
and will manifest the motives of our hearts,
and then everyone will receive praise from God.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (39a) The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart’s requests.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Turn from evil and do good,
that you may abide forever;
For the LORD loves what is right,
and forsakes not his faithful ones.
Criminals are destroyed
and the posterity of the wicked is cut off.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
“The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers,
and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same;
but yours eat and drink.”
Jesus answered them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast
while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
then they will fast in those days.”
And he also told them a parable.
“No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one.
Otherwise, he will tear the new
and the piece from it will not match the old cloak.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins,
and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.
Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new,
for he says, ‘The old is good.’”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090420.cfm
Meditation: The
Unity of the New and the Old
Which
comes first, fasting or feasting? The disciples of John the Baptist were upset
with Jesus' disciples because they did not fast. Fasting was one of the three
most important religious duties, along with prayer and almsgiving. Jesus gave a
simple explanation. There's a time for fasting and a time for feasting (or
celebrating).
A time to weep and fast - a time to rejoice and celebrate
To walk as a disciple with Jesus is to experience a whole new joy of
relationship akin to the joy of the wedding party in celebrating with the groom
and bride their wedding bliss. But there also comes a time when the Lord's
disciples must bear the cross of affliction and purification. For the disciple
there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and celebrating his
goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with humility and fasting and for
mourning over sin. Do you take joy in the Lord's presence with you and do you
express sorrow and contrition for your sins?
A mind closed to God's wisdom
Jesus goes on to warn his disciples about the problem of the "closed
mind" that refuses to learn new things. Jesus used an image familiar to
his audience - new and old wine skins. In Jesus' times, wine was stored in wine
skins, not bottles. New wine poured into skins was still fermenting. The gases
exerted gave pressure. New wine skins were elastic enough to take the pressure,
but old wine skins easily burst because they became hard as they aged. What did
Jesus mean by this comparison?
The Old Testament points to the New - the New Testament fulfills the Old
Are we to reject the old in place of the new? Just as there is a right place
and a right time for fasting and for feasting, so there is a right place for the
old as well as the new. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a
householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew
13:52).
A very common expression, dating back to the early beginnings of the Christian
church, states that the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old
Testament is unveiled in the New - the two shed light on each other. The
New Testament does not replace the Old - rather it unveils and brings into full
light the hidden meaning and signs which foreshadow and point to God's plan of
redemption which he would accomplish through his Son, Jesus Christ. How
impoverished we would be if we only had the Old Testament or the New Testament,
rather than both.
New "wine" of the Holy Spirit
The Lord Jesus gives us wisdom so we can make the best use of both the old and
the new. He doesn't want us to hold rigidly to the past and to be resistant to
the new action of his Holy Spirit in our lives. He wants our minds and hearts
to be like the new wine skins - open and ready to receive the new wine
of the Holy Spirit. Are you eager to grow in the knowledge and
understanding of God's word and plan for your life?
Lord
Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in the knowledge of your
great love and truth. Help me to seek you earnestly in prayer and fasting that
I may turn away from sin and wilfulness and conform my life more fully to your
will. May I always find joy in knowing, loving, and serving you.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Christ
will send you wise men and scribes, by Clement of Alexandria, 150-215
A.D.
"A scribe is one who, through continual reading of the Old
and New Testaments, has laid up for himself a storehouse of knowledge. Thus
Christ blesses those who have gathered in themselves the education both of the
law and of the gospel, so as to 'bring forth from their treasure things both
new and old.' And Christ compares such people with a scribe, just as in another
place he says, 'I will send you wise men and scribes' (Matthew 23:34)"(excerpt
from FRAGMENT 172)
https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2020&date=sep4
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, LUKE 5:33-39
Weekday
(1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Psalm 37)
KEY VERSE: "Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh
wineskins" (v. 38).
TO KNOW: Jesus had come to establish a new covenant between God and
his people. When the religious leaders complained that Jesus and his disciples
did not fast as they and John's disciples did, Jesus compared his relationship
with his followers to a marriage. He said that when the bridegroom was present,
it was a time for rejoicing. When Jesus returned to his Father, the Church
would mourn and fast until they were reunited with him. Jesus used two images
to contrast the old and new religion. It was futile to patch an old cloak with
new material; likewise, old brittle wineskins could not contain the new
fermenting wine of the Spirit that Jesus had come to offer. However, many
people preferred the old wine of the law.
TO LOVE: Am I content with a status-quo faith?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to be open to the new things you are
doing in my life.
http://www.togetherwithgodsword.com/commentaries-on-the-daily-gospel-of-the-mass.html
Friday 4 September 2020
Day of penance. Ember Day.
1 Corinthians 4:1-5. The salvation of the just comes from the
Lord – Psalm 36(37):3-6, 27-28, 39-40. Luke 5:33-39.
What is blocking us from receiving the Good News?
The idea of the ‘new’ is something of a theme in today’s Gospel:
new garment, new wine… Jesus is inviting us to be made anew, to let go of
anything that might hold us back, of worrying about what others think of us. He
asks his disciples not to look back or to look out but to look inwards and to
notice their own attitudes and what might be blocking them from receiving the
good news.
What might be blocking us from seeing where God is at work in
us? From doing the right thing at the right time. On this Ember Day let us
dedicate prayers and actions to what is right and just today. A focus on the
environment, our call to be stewards and to care for our earth and its
beautiful resources. Ensuring that there is always something new growing for
future generations.
http://www.pray.com.au/gospel_reflection/friday-4-september-2020/
Saint Rose of Viterbo
Saint of the Day for September 4
(1233 – March 6, 1251)
Santa Rosa e San Donnino | fresco, Duomo di Ivrea | photo by Laurom
Saint Rose of Viterbo’s Story
Even as a child, Rose had a great desire to pray and to aid the
poor. While still very young, she began a life of penance in her parents’
house. She was as generous to the poor as she was strict with herself. At the
age of 10, she became a Secular Franciscan and soon began preaching in the
streets about sin and the sufferings of Jesus.
Viterbo, her native city, was then in revolt against the pope.
When Rose took the pope’s side against the emperor, she and her family were
exiled from the city. When the pope’s side won in Viterbo, Rose was allowed to
return. Her attempt at age 15 to found a religious community failed, and she
returned to a life of prayer and penance in her father’s home, where she died
in 1251. Rose was canonized in 1457.
Reflection
The list of Franciscan saints seems to have quite a few men and
women who accomplished nothing very extraordinary. Rose is one of them. She did
not influence popes and kings, did not multiply bread for the hungry, and never
established the religious order of her dreams. But she made a place in her life
for God’s grace, and like Saint Francis before her, saw death as the
gateway to new life.
Saint Rose of Viterbo is the Patron Saint of:
Florists
Flower Growers
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-rose-of-viterbo/
Lectio Divina: Luke 5:33-39
Lectio Divina
Friday, September 4, 2020
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Almighty God,
every good thing comes from You.
Fill our hearts with love for You,
increase our faith,
and by Your constant care
protect the good You have given us.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 5:33-39
The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, "The disciples of
John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the
Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink." Jesus answered them,
"Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then
they will fast in those days." And he also told them a parable. "No
one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear
the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one
pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the
skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine
must be poured into fresh wineskins. And no one who has been drinking old wine
desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.'"
3) Reflection
• In today’s Gospel we witness closely a conflict between Jesus
and the religious authority of the time, the scribes and the Pharisees (Lk
5:3). This time the conflict concerns the practice of fasting. Luke narrates
diverse conflicts concerning the religious practice of the time: forgiveness of
sins (Lk 5:21-25), to eat with sinners (Lk 5:29-32), fasting (Lk 5:33-36), and
two conflicts on the observance of Saturday, the Sabbath (Lk 6:1-5 and Lk
6:6-11).
• Luke 5:33: Jesus does not insist on the practice of fasting. The conflict
here is concerning the practice of fasting. Fasting is a very ancient custom,
practiced by almost all religions. Jesus Himself followed it for forty days (Mt
4:2). But He does not insist with the disciples that they do the same. He
leaves them free. This is why the disciples of John the Baptist and of the
Pharisees, who were obliged to fast, want to know why Jesus does not insist on
fasting.
• Luke 5:34-35: When the bridegroom is with them they are not obliged to fast.
Jesus responds with a comparison. When the bridegroom is with the friends of
the bridegroom, that is, during the wedding feast, they should not fast. Jesus
considers Himself the bridegroom. During the time when Jesus is with the
disciples, it is the wedding feast. The day will come when the bridegroom will
be taken away from them, and then, if they wish, they can fast. Jesus refers to
His death. He knows and He is aware that if He wants to continue along this
path of liberty, the authorities will want to kill Him.
Several times in the Old Testament, God presents Himself as the bridegroom of
the people (Is 49:15; 54: 5,8; 62:4-5; Hos 2:16-25). In the New Testament,
Jesus is considered the bridegroom of His people (Eph 5:25). The Apocalypses
speaks of the celebration of the marriage of the Lamb with His spouse, the
Heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 19: 7-8; 21: 2,9).
• Luke 5:36-39: New Wine in new skins! These words pronounced concerning the
new piece of cloth on an old cloak and about new wine in old skins should be
understood like a light which gives clarity to diverse conflicts, narrated by
Luke, first and after the discussions concerning fasting. They clarify the
attitude of Jesus concerning all the conflicts with the religious authorities.
Nowadays these would be conflicts such as these: marriage between divorced
persons, friendship with prostitutes and homosexuals, receiving communion
without being married in the Church, not to go to Mass on Sunday, not to fast
on Good Friday, etc.
A piece of new cloth is not sewn on an old cloak, because when it is washed the
new piece of cloth shrinks and tears the old cloak more. Nobody puts new wine
in old skins, because the new wine, when it is fermented, makes the old skins
burst. New wine in new skins! The religion taught by the religious authorities
was like an old cloak, like an old skin. It is not necessary to want to combine
the novelty brought by Jesus with old customs or uses. Either one or the other!
The new wine which Jesus brings bursts the old skins. It is necessary to know
how to separate both of these things. Very probably, Luke provides these words
of Jesus to give direction to the communities of the years 80. There was a
group of Christian Jews who wanted to reduce the novelty of Jesus to the
Judaism of the beginning. Jesus is not against what is “ancient.” But He does
not want the ancient to be imposed on the new, preventing it from manifesting
itself. It would be as if the Catholic Church reduced the message of Vatican
Council II to the pre-Vatican II practices, as many people today seem to want
to do.
4) Personal questions
• Which conflicts about religious practices cause
suffering to people today and are the cause of much discussion and
polemics? What is the underlying image of God in all these preconceptions,
norms and prohibitions?
• How can we understand today Jesus’ statement: “do not put a new piece of
cloth on an old cloak?” What is the message which you can draw from this
for your life and for the life of the community?
5) Concluding Prayer
Commit your destiny to Yahweh,
be confident in Him, and He will act,
making your uprightness clear as daylight,
and the justice of your cause as the noon. (Ps 37:5-6)
https://ocarm.org/en/content/lectio/lectio-divina-luke-533-39
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