CREATED ANEW IN CHRIST
Introduction
We will be trustworthy stewards of God’s mysteries if we live according to the gospel and serve God and people, rather than seek security in outward observances and lip service.
We are created anew in Christ, the Lord and the new beginning of all. With Christ, we have to renounce all compromises with the old in us and live in the new spirit of Christ. How well have we accepted the renewal that Vatican II asks of us?
Opening Prayer
Faithful God of tenderness and mercy,
you want us to be your people
on the march with Jesus your Son
toward a new future of justice and love.
Do not allow us to suffocate in being contented
with old habits and sluggish ways.
Help us to accept the pain
of leaving the familiar behind us
and open us to the challenge of the gospel
to become more like your Son
who guides our faltering steps,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
1 Reading – 1 CORINTHIANS 4:1-5
Brothers and sisters: 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 37:3-4, 5-6, 27-28, 39-40
R. (39a) The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
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.
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.
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 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.
Alleluia JOHN 8:12
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 LUKE 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.'”
Commentary
Why Fast?
Fasting for fasting’s sake is no benefit for the soul. Fasting undertaken for selfish goals is harmful. When one fasts for the right purposes and with the right spirit, one would know when to begin and when to end. Here are some insights from Mahatma Gandhi, who defined fasting as ‘satyagraha’ (holding on to truth):
“Fasting and prayer therefore are a most powerful process of purification and that which purifies necessarily enable us the better to do our duty and to attain our goal. If therefore fasting and prayer seem at times not to answer, it is not because there is nothing in them but because the right spirit is not behind them …. There is no prayer without fasting, taking fasting in its widest sense. A complete fast is a complete and literal denial of self. It is the truest prayer. ‘Take my life and let it be always, only, all for Thee’ is not, should not be, a mere lip or figurative expression.”
Intercessions
– For the Church, that the People of God and its leaders may heed the promptings of the creative Spirit to speak to the people of today the ever-new language of the gospel, we pray:
– For artists, poets and inventors, that they may reveal to us the splendor of creation and the newness of life in Christ, we pray:
– For this community, that we may not be afraid of authentic change and draw from Christ the courage to start the reform of the Church and the world with the renewal of ourselves, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in these signs of bread and wine
your Son Jesus Christ comes among us
to make with us a new beginning.
Create us anew in him.
Reconcile us with you and each other
and make us builders with him
of a new world
in which he is our Lord for ever. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
God of hope,
you have given us Jesus your Son
as our companion on the road
for understanding the old, familiar things
with new and young hearts.
Let him prod us on
when we try to compromise
by merely patching up the old here and there.
Let your Spirit blow on us
your vigorous breath of life
to renew us and our world
with your mercy and justice.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Blessing
We must ask ourselves from time to time how faithful we are to the gospel. It is easy to become fossilized. The gospel wants us to stay young and ever new. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!