September 4, 2026
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
Psalm 37:3-4,
5-6, 27-28, 39-40
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/090426.cfm
Commentary on 1
Corinthians 4:1-5
Paul continues the theme that he and the other Apostles and
ministers in the community are merely human agents of God. He asks the
Corinthians to see him and his fellow workers in the church as servants and not
masters or lords. They are to be seen as stewards or house managers working for
a master. And they have been entrusted with communicating the “mysteries” of
God.
The word ‘mystery’ (Greek, mysterion) here does
not strictly mean something that is beyond all understanding. Rather it refers
to truths which we could not discover by our own human efforts, but which are
now being revealed and made known by God through his agents to those who
believe. The term is linked to the so-called ‘mystery religions’ of the time,
where the inner workings of the religious sect were only made known to
initiates.
In the Christian community, there are also ‘mysteries’ made
known. They are not meant to be kept secret, but it is likely that they will
only be accepted and understood by those who have faith.
Paul emphasises that what is most expected of a steward is
that he can be trusted—that he is reliable and conscientious. Paul also knows,
however, that he has his critics among the community, so he affirms that his
trustworthiness cannot be measured by them. He does not even dare to evaluate
his own trustworthiness, on the principle that one is very often a poor judge
where oneself is concerned.
Nevertheless, in spite of the criticisms he has received,
his own conscience is perfectly clear. But that still is not enough. Only God
can be his judge. And if only God can judge, then others have no right to pass
final judgement on him. Jesus certainly had something to say about that (see
Luke 7:36-50).
When the Lord comes at the end of times, the hidden
intentions of all (Paul and his critics) will be made plain. Then, and only
then:
…each one will receive commendation from God.
We should remember that each one of us, too, is a steward of
the mysteries and truths of the gospel. Through our Baptism, they have been
entrusted to us and we are expected to pass them on to others.
And we must do our utmost to be faithful and reliable
stewards. Even if we are carrying out our stewardship to the best of our ability,
it is almost inevitable that we will run into criticism, misunderstanding and
opposition. In such cases, we must do our best to be people of honesty and
integrity.
Sometimes the criticisms may be valid, and sometimes not. If
they are valid, we should be grateful and make the necessary changes. If our
consciences are clear, we should not be too concerned with what is being said
about us, and leave the judgement ultimately to God. On our part, we continue
to carry out our stewardship to the best of our ability.
Jesus never promised praise and popularity to those who
proclaim the gospel—quite the opposite, in fact. He himself lost his life
because of the hatred his work for others generated:
A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the
master. (Matt 10:24)
Paul focused on loving and serving Christ and the gospel in
spite of great opposition both from fellow-Jews and fellow-Christians. Let us
try to follow in his footsteps.
Commentary on Luke
5:33-39
The call of the first disciples is followed in Luke by the
cure of a leper and then of a paralytic. Then there is the call of Levi (who is
called “Matthew” in Matthew’s Gospel) and the discussion with Jesus about his
mixing with sinful and unclean people. It is the first of many confrontations
between Jesus and the Jewish leaders.
We then come to today’s reading. Some scribes and Pharisees
want to know why, when their disciples and those of John the Baptist regularly
fast, Jesus’ disciples freely eat and drink. We know that John grew up in the
desert and lived on an austere diet of locusts and wild honey. He also preached
an austere penitential message and lived a highly disciplined life. The
Pharisees also led a highly regimented and strict lifestyle. Jesus, however,
together with his disciples, is frequently seen eating at the tables of
Pharisees, tax collectors and in the houses of friends. But while Jesus
rejected ostentatious fasting, we know he fasted (once for 40 days) and praised
it together with prayer and almsgiving, provided it was done discreetly and not
for display.
Jesus gives two answers to the question. First, he says that
it is not appropriate for guests to fast when the bridegroom is still around. A
Jewish wedding was and is a specially joyous occasion (plenty of wine needed,
as we saw in Cana) and it could last for a week. It would be unthinkable to
fast at such a time. Here Jesus is the bridegroom. There will come a time when
he is not physically with his disciples, and then they will fast.
The second reason goes deeper and is presented in the form
of a parable. One does not use a new piece of cloth to patch an old garment. At
the first sign of stress, the new cloth will be stronger and the old cloth will
tear out. Nor does one put new wine into old wineskins. The new wine is still
fermenting and expanding. The old wineskins, made of goatskins, are already
stretched and no longer flexible. When the new wine expands, the old wineskins
will not be able to stretch any more and will burst. The result is lost wine
and ruined wineskins. So new wine has to be poured into new wineskins.
In this Jesus is clearly saying that his whole vision of
religion is new, and that it can only be accepted and adopted by people who are
prepared to see things in a new way. His teaching and vision cannot be grafted
on to the old religion. The old religion emphasised externals like observance
of legal and ritual regulations and fasting; Jesus emphasises the interior
spirit, which is the real measure of a person’s value.
This parable may also be read in conjunction with John’s
account of the wedding feast at Cana, where Jesus produced new and better wine
from the water in the ritual washing jars.
Jesus knows the difficulties his adversaries face:
No one after drinking old wine desires new wine but says,
‘The old is good.’
Those who had grown up with the ‘old wine’ of the Mosaic Law
would find it difficult to switch to the ‘new wine’ that Jesus was offering.
Even in our Church today there are some who still hanker for
the ‘old wine’ of the pre-Vatican II days. They have not made the inner shift
which is necessary. They have not understood that Vatican II was much more than
a change of external practices (such as have taken place in the liturgy). They
nostalgically long for the Tridentine Mass in Latin and proclaim it preferable
to the ‘new’ liturgy which they find superficial and lacking in reverence. But
they do not seem to have grasped the thinking which is behind the liturgical
changes. The new patch does not fit their old cloth. “The old wine is better,”
they say.
Going forward, this thinking will not likely disappear
because “the world writes the agenda for the church” and there will no doubt be
other changes. The new wine will not be appreciated until the wineskins are
also changed; otherwise we are in the same situation as the Pharisees were with
Jesus.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
Friday,
September 4, 2026
Ordinary Time
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.
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.'"
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 year 80 and beyond. 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.
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?
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)
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