Welcome to my blog and peace be with you.
You will find here the Scripture readings
prescribed by the Catholic Church for today. We are reading a semi continuous
reading of St. Luke’s Gospel and St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
When we listen or read the Word of God with
faith, then Jesus, Son of God speaks to us.
Friday 4
September 2020
The Bridegroom and his Bride
Father in heaven, open our hearts that we may
hear to speaking to us through your Word and may we come to love and serve
Jesus with all our hearts, for he is your human manifestation. We make our
prayer through the same Lord and Sviour, Jesus, your Son.
First reading
1 Corinthians 4:1-5 ·
The Lord
alone is our judge
People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards
entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each
one should be found worthy of his trust. Not that it makes the slightest
difference to me whether you, or indeed any human tribunal, find me worthy or
not. I will not even pass judgement on myself. True, my conscience does not
reproach me at all, but that does not prove that I am acquitted: the Lord alone
is my judge. There must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until
the Lord comes; he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the
secret intentions of men’s hearts. Then will be the time for each one to have
whatever praise he deserves, from God. THE WORD OF THE LORD
Prayerful
reflection
A pastor/priest
is Christ’s servant and his steward. The Lord employs him to continue to teach
the truth which Jesus first taught in Palestine. As a priest, for there is a
difference between a priest and a pastor, he is called to offer for and with the
community the Sacrifice of Christ under the appearance of bread and wine and,
flowing from this, to carry out for the community the sacred actions of Christ
for their salvation.
He is not
employed by the community to whom he preaches or ministers. Therefore, the
pastor/priest is not answerable to the community but to Jesus the Christ.
The community
may criticise him for his words and actions. If they are justified, then he
should take them to heart as Jesus correcting him. He should immediately reform
himself. Jesus, however, is the judge of the pastor. Reflecting on the criticism
of the community or of anyone, if his conscience is clear before the Lord, he
must continue on his way. But this is dangerous. “True, my conscience does not reproach me at all,
but that does not prove that I am acquitted.” “The Lord alone is my judge.” But
since the Lord has established a governing authority for his Church, the
priest/pastor should listen to that authority (the magisterium). He simply
cannot do his own thing. Furthermore, we are bad judges in our own case and easily
judge ourselves ‘not guilty’ when we are fully responsible.
The priest/pastor
‘should be found worthy of the trust’ Jesus the Christ has put in him. If he is
not, he will be severely punished (Luke
12:47).
Psalm
Psalm 36(37):3-6,27-28,39-40
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
If you trust in the Lord and do good,
then you will live in the land and be secure.
If you find your delight in the Lord,
he will grant your heart’s desire.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Commit your life to the Lord,
trust in him and he will act,
so that your justice breaks forth like the light,
your cause like the noon-day sun.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Then turn away from evil and do good
and you shall have a home for ever;
for the Lord loves justice
and will never forsake his friends.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord,
their stronghold in time of distress.
The Lord helps them and delivers them
and saves them: for their refuge is in him.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Gospel
Luke 5:33-39
When the
bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast
The Pharisees and the scribes said to Jesus, ‘John’s
disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the
Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you
cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with
them? But the time will come, the time for the bridegroom to be taken away from
them; that will be the time when they will fast.’
He also told them this parable, ‘No one tears a piece from a new cloak
to put it on an old cloak; if he does, not only will he have torn the new one,
but the piece taken from the new will not match the old.
‘And nobody puts new wine into old skins; if he does, the new wine
will burst the skins and then run out, and the skins will be lost. No; new wine
must be put into fresh skins. And nobody who has been drinking old wine wants
new. “The old is good” he says.’ THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD
Prayerful
reflection
Jesus is
the bridegroom. He therefore has a bride. The bride he has chosen is the
community of those who have chosen him in love. It is a loving and
indestructible relationship. He gives his life for his bride. Nothing can ever
separate his bride from his faithful and everlasting love. His bride can, of
course, choose to separate herself from him and find another bridegroom. This she
does by mortal sin. The community is the bride. But the community is not an
entity separate from the individual members of the community. Jesus looks for
this nuptial relationship with each member. This is, of course, figurative
language conveying the truth of a deep and everlasting relationship in mutual
love. This is the heart of the Christian faith. Jesus calls each member of his
Catholic Church to have this personal relationship with himself.
Prayer
Father in
heaven, in your tender mercy, you have made a new covenant with us by which we
are your beloved sons and daughters in your only-begotten Son, Jesus. We pray
that through reflecting in prayer on your Word, we may come to experience this
relationship with you and the Lord Jesus in the Holy Spirit. We make our prayer
through your Son, the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
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