Fr. Roger J. Landry
Sacred Heart Convent of the Sisters of Life, Manhattan
Friday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time, Year II
Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart
September 2, 2016
1 Cor 4:1-5, Ps 37, Lk 5:33-39
To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
The following points were attempted in the homily:
- Jesus told talks about new wine skins to receive what he desires to pour out. We need more than a “patch.” We need a new heart to receive what he gives each day. Today the readings specify three ways we need to receive his new wine.
- First, as “friends of the bridal chamber,” which is what is poorly translated as “wedding guests.” Because Jesus the Bridegroom is with us, pouring himself into our life, we must like groomsmen and bridesmaids be full of joy. We will fast for those parts of us and those people in the world that are not in union with the Bridegroom, when he is “ripped away” through sin, but our fundamental attitude is joy at Christ’s redemptive presence. That’s the first type of wine he wants to pour into us anew.
- Second, St. Paul says we’re called to be servants of Christ. The word servant is now diakonos or doulos, the common Greek words for “servant” or “slave.” It’s hyperetes, which means the slave at the rudder in a big ship, whose doesn’t establish the direction (the captain does) but helps head in that direction. That’s what we do for Christ, trying to point the ark of salvation in the direction he sets to the eternal port, not steering people off course. That’s the second type of grace he wants to give us today.
- Third, He says that we’re likewise called to be stewards of the mysteries of God. The word steward is economos, which means the one who implements the law of the house, who administers. We’re entrusted with the mysteries of God, which means not just the sacraments, but also the world — which is a sacrament of God’s presence — and especially of others. We seek to be good and faithful servants of those gifts. And Jesus wants to pour into new wineskins the help we need to be so.
- And Jesus the Bridegroom does all of this here at Mass, where he welcomes us not merely as “sons of the wedding chamber,” but actually as bride and friend of the bridegroom, desiring to give us new wineskins to receive him who will help us to become truly joyful rudder men, faithfully caring for the gift of every one and thing God in his goodness has bestowed.
The readings for today’s Mass were:
Reading 1 1 COR 4:1-5
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.
Responsorial Psalm PS 37:3-4, 5-6, 27-28, 39-40
Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart’s requests.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Turn from evil and do good,
that you may abide forever;
For the LORD loves what is right,
and forsakes not his faithful ones.
Criminals are destroyed
and the posterity of the wicked is cut off.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Alleluia JN 8:12
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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.’”
