Friday of week 22 in Ordinary Time
First Reading
1 Corinthians 4:1–5
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.
Responsorial 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 Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Luke 5:33–39
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.’
Reflection
Paul offers a demanding description of Christian responsibility: we are servants of Christ and stewards of mysteries that belong to God. A steward neither owns what has been entrusted nor uses it for personal importance. The measure of a steward is faithfulness—caring well for God’s gifts, serving the people placed before us and remembering whose work it truly is.
This understanding releases Paul from dependence upon human approval. Other people’s judgements do not define him, but neither does he declare himself innocent simply because his conscience is quiet. Conscience is the place where we hear the call to love what is good and reject what is evil, yet it must continually be formed by God’s truth (CCC 1776–1785). Humility means neither condemning ourselves nor excusing ourselves too easily. It means placing ourselves honestly before the Lord.
Paul’s warning against premature judgement is therefore not an invitation to moral indifference. Actions still matter, as do justice and truth. What remains beyond us is the complete knowledge of another person’s heart. Christ alone can bring hidden things into the light and reveal the intentions beneath them. The Catechism teaches that the final judgement will disclose the good each person has done or failed to do, together with its deepest consequences (CCC 1038–1041).
The psalm answers this uncertainty with trust: “Commit your life to the Lord, trust in him and he will act.” We do not need to control every outcome or secure every verdict in our favour. We are asked to turn away from evil, do good and find our refuge in God. His justice is not cold or distant; it is the justice of the One who refuses to forsake his friends and remains their stronghold in distress.
In the Gospel, the scribes and Pharisees assess Jesus’ disciples by comparing their behaviour with familiar religious customs. Jesus does not reject fasting. He places it within a relationship. His presence is the joy of a wedding feast because he is the bridegroom. After he is taken away, fasting will have its proper place as an expression of longing, repentance and renewed attentiveness to God. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving remain central forms of Christian penance when they arise from conversion of heart (CCC 1434).
The images of the new cloak and new wine expose the deeper problem. Christ has not come merely to repair the surface of an unchanged life. His grace creates something new within us, drawing us into the life of God and beginning an interior transformation (CCC 1996–2000). An old wineskin that has become rigid cannot expand with fermenting wine. Likewise, a heart fixed upon its own assumptions may resist the very grace it claims to desire.
Yet Jesus’ final observation is gentle and realistic: someone accustomed to the old wine says, “The old is good.” Change can be unsettling, particularly when old habits feel safe or religiously respectable. Christ does not ask us to abandon truth for novelty. He asks us to remain teachable so that familiar practices continue to serve communion with him rather than becoming substitutes for it.
The readings belong together in their call for humble faithfulness. We are stewards, not owners; disciples, not judges of every heart. We trust the Lord, practise what is good and allow Christ to renew us from within. Fresh wineskins are formed whenever we release our need to appear right, submit our motives to God and become willing to receive grace on his terms.
One line to carry today:
A faithful heart leaves judgement to Christ and remains open to the newness of his grace.
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