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Friday – Twenty-second Week – OT2
Readings: 1 Cor 4:1-5; Lk 5:33-39.
Reading 1 (1 Cor 4:1-5): 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.
Gospel (Lk 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.'”
Fr. Anthony Dinh Minh Tien, O.P.
I. THEME: Judging
Judging is what people frequently do in their life, and many are affected by judging of others. However, many questions related to judging must be examined, such as: Do people have a right to judge? What is the base they used to judge? Are they objective when judging? Is it the time to judge? Should we let judging from others to affect us? How much value one should put on people’s judging?
Today readings show us some people’s judging and the reactions from people who were judged. In the first reading, St. Paul was judged by some Corinthians about his teaching, authority and manner of preaching, etc. He said to them that he paid no attention to human judging because of their subjective and falseness; but paid attention only to divine judging because of its objective and truthfulness. In the Gospel, some Pharisees and scribes criticized Jesus’ disciples of gluttony; they didn’t fast and pray like John Baptist’s and Pharisee’s disciples. Jesus defended his disciples by saying that they didn’t need to fast when he is still with them, they shall fast when he shall be taken away from them.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: The Corinthians judged Paul.
St. Paul wanted people to call him nothing except as servants (huperétes) of Christ and stewards (hoikonómos) of the mysteries of God. He used these nouns at plural to mean that he is only one of them. A servant must follow his master’ command. A steward is responsible for all things that happen in his owner’s household; for examples: to be in charge of all workers, to buy necessary things for the house and to keep records for his owner. Although a steward has higher authority than other servants; but to his owner, he is still a servant. This is also true for all positions in the Church, no matter how they have authority or fame, they are still Christ’s servants. The important characteristic of a steward is trustworthy because his owner put a complete trust in him. He shall be judged from the three sources:
1.1/ By other people: He may be judged by other servants or those around him. St. Paul talked about his feeling for these judgment as follows: “It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal.” The judgments from others are often incorrect because they don’t have all related facts; moreover, they are also affected by many other reasons, such as: subjectivism, jealousy and hatred. However, these judgments are the beginning step to help the individual to examine his acts. St. Paul might say these words after examined his acts before God.
1.2/ By oneself: St. Paul also said, “I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted.” These words showed Paul’s carefulness because even he examined his conscience thoroughly, he might not be absolutely corrected because he might be affected by pride, self-satisfaction or deceived himself. However, self-examination is necessary in a process to be perfect. One must know himself in the relationship with God and others.
1.3/ By God: This is the only judgment which Paul is concerned about because God’s judgment is always true due to the following reasons: First, only God knows all the circumstances that related to one’s works. Secondly, only God knows the reasons why he acted as such. Lastly, only God isn’t affected by any human limitation.
Due to these reasons, St. Paul advised the Corinthians: “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.”
2/ Gospel: Scribes and Pharisees judged Jesus and his disciples.
To the scribes and Pharisees, prayer and fasting are the two standards they used to judge one’s virtue of religion, and indirectly, to evaluate his master. By a question, they judged and condemned both Jesus and his disciples as irreligious because of gluttony. They said to him: “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink.”
Jesus answered by questioned 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.” The purpose of fasting according to Jewish tradition is to sacrifice one’s body to pray for God’s presence in one’s life. Jesus wanted to say that his disciples need not to fast because they are having God’s presence among them. The bridegroom is Jesus, and the wedding guests are his disciples. There shall be the days when he will be taken away from them; at that time, they shall fast. It is a perfect answer for their question.
In every generation, there is a tension between what is old and what is new. There are those who always oppose new things and find all possible ways to protect old things as scribes and Pharisees in today passage. Jesus didn’t completely oppose their old things because he knew there are some good old things needed to be protected; but Jesus wanted them to accept new things to perfect old things or to discard bad and old things. In order for them to accept new things, they need to have a new mind and a new heart. Jesus used two examples to illustrate this:
(1) “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.” When people fix cloak, they used to choose a patch from extra fabric or old cloak, not to cut a patch from new cloak. Not only that, but they also used to choose a patch which has the same color and tension with old cloak; if not, the tension of the new patch shall make the tear cloak looking worse.
(2) “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.’” The new wineskin has the contraction while old wineskin was dry and lost its contraction. New wine has much pressure, that is why it must be put on new wineskin. The scribes and the Pharisees are like those who prefer old wine because they always protected their tradition and turned their back to new changes.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– We shouldn’t be so hurried to judge others when we have not necessary proofs.
– We shouldn’t pay attention to others’ judgments and also not to be firmed in our judgment. Only God’s judgment is completely right.
– We shouldn’t blindly protect all traditions nor discard all old things. We need to wisely welcome new things and have courage to discard what are old and bad.