2021년 9월 3일 연중 제22주간 금요일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
<만물이 그리스도를 통하여 또 그리스도를 향하여 창조되었습니다.>
콜로새서. 1,15-20
그리스도 예수님은 15 보이지 않는 하느님의 모상이시며
모든 피조물의 맏이이십니다.
16 만물이 그분 안에서 창조되었기 때문입니다.
하늘에 있는 것이든 땅에 있는 것이든
보이는 것이든 보이지 않는 것이든
왕권이든 주권이든 권세든 권력이든
만물이 그분을 통하여 또 그분을 향하여 창조되었습니다.
17 그분께서는 만물에 앞서 계시고
만물은 그분 안에서 존속합니다.
18 그분은 또한 당신 몸인 교회의 머리이십니다.
그분은 시작이시며 죽은 이들 가운데에서 맏이이십니다.
그리하여 만물 가운데에서 으뜸이 되십니다.
19 과연 하느님께서는 기꺼이 그분 안에 온갖 충만함이 머무르게 하셨습니다.
20 그분 십자가의 피를 통하여 평화를 이룩하시어
땅에 있는 것이든 하늘에 있는 것이든 그분을 통하여 그분을 향하여
만물을 기꺼이 화해시키셨습니다.
복음
<그들도 신랑을 빼앗기면 단식할 것이다.>
루카. 5,33-39
그때에 바리사이들과 율법 학자들이 33 예수님께 말하였다.
“요한의 제자들은 자주 단식하며 기도를 하고
바리사이의 제자들도 그렇게 하는데,
당신의 제자들은 먹고 마시기만 하는군요.”
34 예수님께서 그들에게 이르셨다.
“혼인 잔치 손님들이 신랑과 함께 있는 동안에 단식을 할 수야 없지 않으냐?
35 그러나 그들이 신랑을 빼앗길 날이 올 것이다.
그때에는 그들도 단식할 것이다.”
36 예수님께서는 그들에게 또 비유를 말씀하셨다.
“아무도 새 옷에서 조각을 찢어 내어 헌 옷에 대고 꿰매지 않는다.
그렇게 하면 새 옷을 찢을 뿐만 아니라,
새 옷에서 찢어 낸 조각이 헌 옷에 어울리지도 않을 것이다.
37 또한 아무도 새 포도주를 헌 가죽 부대에 담지 않는다.
그렇게 하면 새 포도주가 부대를 터뜨려,
포도주는 쏟아지고 부대도 버리게 된다.
38 새 포도주는 새 부대에 담아야 한다.
39 묵은 포도주를 마시던 사람은 새 포도주를 원하지 않는다.
사실 그런 사람은 ‘묵은 것이 좋다.’고 말한다.”
September 3, 2021
Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
Col 1:15-20
Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the Body, the Church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the Blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.
Responsorial Psalm
PS 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
For he is good,
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Alleluia
Jn 8:12
R. Alleluia, alleluia.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 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.’”
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
Today’s first reading speaks of the visible and invisible realms. In my youth, I recall a science film that begins with young people sitting in a park. The camera moves above and away from them, demonstrating exponential increases in distance. Before too long, our planet is a small blue marble in space that eventually becomes indistinguishable within a sea of stars and darkness. After returning to ground level, the camera journeyed again in the opposite direction, this time illustrating negative exponents. The viewer enters into an otherwise invisible realm that can only be perceived with special instruments, and beyond, perhaps only in theory.
Many mysteries remain. Within the natural world, many hidden realms are occluded from view. We may lack the proper instruments. The interior lives of others may remain hidden unless they choose to disclose them. Other realms, such as heaven and the angels, are apparently hidden by design, as some information has been revealed but other details remain shrouded in mystery. Whether the occlusion is purposeful, the product of willful blindness, or the product of simple ignorance, it is hard not to be conscious of our limitations.
The first reading reminds us that our Lord was there when all of those mysteries came into being, and he is not mystified by any of them. His preeminence stands over the entire created realm, visible and invisible, natural and supernatural. We state this whenever we recite the Nicene Creed. In this way, the Lord Jesus Christ is not like us, despite his incarnation. This inspires our worship.
In today’s gospel, the scribes and Pharisees challenge our Lord because he is not conforming to their expectations. They draw a comparison from experiences within the visible realm, using a small sample that includes John the Baptist (good choice) and their own disciples (dubious, but I will play along). Those holy people fasted and abstained from common things to show their separation from the world. Instead, Jesus embraces the world with gusto and has a good time with his disciples. (In other texts, we learn that he even ate and drank with sinners!) What’s up, Jesus?
Jesus responded with parables, including a lesson about a wedding feast. We recently attended a wedding in which the young couple was reminded that a lifelong adventure was beginning, which may well include danger, trials, and suffering. We hope not right away, as the couple needs time for their love to grow stronger. Jesus states plainly that fasting will come later, but just not now.
The love that sustains us through difficulties and trials usually does not come all at once, but little by little. Trials test us, which can help us grow if we are open to them. Trials may prove that we can bear up, building our confidence for even greater ones ahead. Or they may simply illustrate where we remain weak, showing us we need more training and building our humility and reliance upon God. The saints show us this path by their stories about growing into sainthood.
We like the thrill of adventure, but not the difficulties it might present. We want a roller coaster that provides safe thrills, but no danger. But that is not real life. To avoid risk, we will naturally prefer the old wine and the old paths that we know, but perhaps we are being called to taste new wine that will be even better than the old! Are we open to the prospects of an adventure with God?
Lord, when we pause to see them, the visible realms you have made are adorned with your majesty. Help us also to sense the invisible realms, including invisible needs that may be nearby. We praise you because you made all things, and you are preeminent in all of your creation, even those dimensions we do not understand. Nothing we encounter can displace your sustaining love and care for us. Thanks be to God.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
LOVING TO FAST
“When the days come that the Groom is removed from their midst, they will surely fast in those days.” —Luke 5:35
Jesus said that we, His disciples, will surely fast. However, our fasting as Jesus’ followers differs from Old Testament fasting. New Testament fasting is so powerful that it is compatible only with a New Testament lifestyle (Lk 5:37). Without the new wineskin of a new lifestyle to contain the new wine of our new fasting, our fasting will not be constructive but destructive. Therefore, to fast as the Lord calls us, we must first be letting the Spirit create in us a new lifestyle.
The Spirit will do this by giving us a relationship with Jesus which takes precedence over our selfish desires, compulsions, and habits. In the Spirit, we will be able to say: “Those things I used to consider gain I have now reappraised as loss in the light of Christ. I have come to rate all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ. For His sake I have forfeited everything; I have accounted all else rubbish so that Christ may be my Wealth and I may be in Him” (Phil 3:7-9).
At this time in history, the Spirit may be calling the Church to fast in a special way. Fasting sets people free (Is 58:6) and, with prayer, is the only way to drive out certain demons (Mt 17:21, NAB). However, to fast in full New Testament power, we must let the Spirit change our lifestyle by giving us a love for Jesus which surpasses everything.
Prayer: Father, free me from this prison of a self-centered, pleasure-seeking lifestyle.
Promise: Jesus “is before all else that is. In Him everything continues in being.” —Col 1:17
Praise: Pope St. Gregory the Great had a zeal for the missions to bring the Gospel to the Anglo-Saxons. He spread the Gospel to them after being elected Pope.
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
Which comes first, fasting or feasting? The disciples of John the Baptist were upset with Jesus' disciples because they did not fast. Fasting was one of the three most important religious duties, along with prayer and almsgiving. Jesus gave a simple explanation. There's a time for fasting and a time for feasting (or celebrating).
A time to weep and fast - a time to rejoice and celebrate
To walk as a disciple with Jesus is to experience a whole new joy of relationship akin to the joy of the wedding party in celebrating with the groom and bride their wedding bliss. But there also comes a time when the Lord's disciples must bear the cross of affliction and purification. For the disciple there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and celebrating his goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with humility and fasting and for mourning over sin. Do you take joy in the Lord's presence with you and do you express sorrow and contrition for your sins?
A mind closed to God's wisdom
Jesus goes on to warn his disciples about the problem of the "closed mind" that refuses to learn new things. Jesus used an image familiar to his audience - new and old wine skins. In Jesus' times, wine was stored in wine skins, not bottles. New wine poured into skins was still fermenting. The gases exerted gave pressure. New wine skins were elastic enough to take the pressure, but old wine skins easily burst because they became hard as they aged. What did Jesus mean by this comparison?
The Old Testament points to the New - the New Testament fulfills the Old
Are we to reject the old in place of the new? Just as there is a right place and a right time for fasting and for feasting, so there is a right place for the old as well as the new. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew 13:52).
A very common expression, dating back to the early beginnings of the Christian church, states that the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New - the two shed light on each other. The New Testament does not replace the Old - rather it unveils and brings into full light the hidden meaning and signs which foreshadow and point to God's plan of redemption which he would accomplish through his Son, Jesus Christ. How impoverished we would be if we only had the Old Testament or the New Testament, rather than both.
New "wine" of the Holy Spirit
The Lord Jesus gives us wisdom so we can make the best use of both the old and the new. He doesn't want us to hold rigidly to the past and to be resistant to the new action of his Holy Spirit in our lives. He wants our minds and hearts to be like the new wine skins - open and ready to receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Are you eager to grow in the knowledge and understanding of God's word and plan for your life?
Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in the knowledge of your great love and truth. Help me to seek you earnestly in prayer and fasting that I may turn away from sin and wilfulness and conform my life more fully to your will. May I always find joy in knowing, loving, and serving you.
Psalm 100:1-5
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the LORD is God! It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name!
5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures for ever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Christ will send you wise men and scribes, by Clement of Alexandria, 150-215 A.D.
"A scribe is one who, through continual reading of the Old and New Testaments, has laid up for himself a storehouse of knowledge. Thus Christ blesses those who have gathered in themselves the education both of the law and of the gospel, so as to 'bring forth from their treasure things both new and old.' And Christ compares such people with a scribe, just as in another place he says, 'I will send you wise men and scribes' (Matthew 23:34)"(excerpt from FRAGMENT 172)
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