HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 22ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II (

HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 22ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II

THEME: The Lord alone is our judge.

BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA

HOMILY FOR FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2 2022

*READINGS OF THE DAY*
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Psalm 36:3-6,27-28,39-40
Luke 5:33-39

*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
GREEN

*FROM THE FIRST READING*
In today’s first reading, Saint Paul tells the members of the church in Corinth, ‘there must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until the Lord comes’. In other words, only the Lord is in a position to judge someone because, as Paul puts it, only he ‘can reveal the secret intentions of human hearts’. Only the Lord sees deeply enough to make a true judgement of others. Therefore, we need to be very slow to judge others, or even to judge ourselves. In that reading, Paul also says, ‘I will not even pass judgement on myself’.

*FROM THE GOSPEL READING*
In the gospel reading we find the Pharisees passing premature judgement on Jesus’ disciples because they do not follow the Pharisees’ regulations regarding fasting. Jesus defends his disciples against this judgemental attitude, explaining that with his coming something very new has arrived. His ministry has the quality of a wedding feast, and who would think of fasting at a feast?

*CONCLUSION*
It is always tempting to rush to judgement without attending fully to the reality which we are judging so as to really understand it. The words of Jesus in the gospel reading about the newness of his ministry suggest that the Holy Spirit is often several steps ahead of us. If we hold on to the past too tightly, we can judge the new direction the Holy Spirit may be prompting us to take in a very negative way. Our old wineskins need constant renewing to hold the new wine of the Lord’s Spirit.

*LET US PRAY*
Jesus, thank you for inviting me to converse with you today. Thank you also for your teachings on holiness, prayer, and marriage. Grant me the grace of not judging others, and talking bad about people. I pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.