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Friday of the Twenty Second Week in Ordinary Time
I Corinthians 4:1-5, 37:3-4, 5-6, 27-28, 39-40
Luke 5:33-39
S
UMMARY
The passages today show the contrast between the physical and the spiri-
tual. The readings and the gospel also bring to light the difference between what
we perceive and what is happening in people˅s hearts.
R
EFLECTION
First to the reading. The message that we can take from this reading is that we
don't know the intentions of people and should not judge them because there is
no way to know. These judgments are nothing to do with the rules of a court or a
tribunal, but the judgments we make of other people in perceiving value. We, as
humans, cannot see into a man˅s heart. We, as humans, cannot rule what
someone˅s intentions might be. Only God can be judge and will discern what
someone˅s true motivations are.
This reading is then amplified by the psalm that "The salvation of the just comes
from the Lord". In terms of the first reading, if people judge you harshly, the Lord
will put that judgment right through his salvation. Keep on the Holy road and you
will be rewarded as the Lord can see into your heart.
The Gospel is the thread to tie things together, pushing the message home. It is
clear from the passage that the Pharisees and the disciples of John were fasting
and offering prayers, while Jesus and his disciples were not. Because Jesus and
his disciples were feasting, the Pharisees and scribes judged them and ques-
tioned why they were not fasting. The implication is that Jesus and his followers
aren˅t as spiritual as the Pharisees and disciples of John the Baptist.
Here Jesus first refers to himself as the bridegroom and by inference the church,
us, as the bride, pointing to the new covenant that is different from the old. Also
any wedding we have gone to is a time for festivity, celebrating the blessing that
is being given, the new family forming and the happiness at the vows that are
undertaken through love for each other. Did you notice the deliberate contrast