Jesus Is Questioned On Fasting

JULY 02, 2022, SATURDAY

Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Green)

CYCLE C - YEAR II

Lectionary: 382

Reading 1 

AM 9:11-15

Thus says the LORD:

On that day I will raise up

the fallen hut of David;

I will wall up its breaches,

raise up its ruins,

and rebuild it as in the days of old,

That they may conquer what is left of Edom

and all the nations that shall bear my name,

say I, the LORD, who will do this.

Yes, days are coming,

says the LORD,

When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,

and the vintager, him who sows the seed;

The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains,

and all the hills shall run with it.

I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;

they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,

Plant vineyards and drink the wine,

set out gardens and eat the fruits.

I will plant them upon their own ground;

never again shall they be plucked

From the land I have given them,

say I, the LORD, your God.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 85:9AB AND 10, 11-12, 13-14

R. (see 9b) The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

I will hear what God proclaims;

the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.

Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,

glory dwelling in our land.

R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

Kindness and truth shall meet;

justice and peace shall kiss.

Truth shall spring out of the earth,

and justice shall look down from heaven. 

R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

The LORD himself will give his benefits;

our land shall yield its increase.

Justice shall walk before him,

and salvation, along the way of his steps.

R. The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

Alleluia

JN 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;

I know them, and they follow me.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel 

MT 9:14-17

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,

“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,

but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn

as long as the bridegroom is with them?

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,

and then they will fast.

No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,

for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.

People do not put new wine into old wineskins.

Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.

Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”  

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

‘New wine is put into new wineskins’. What a challenge to our freedom and to our wisdom! Jesus is calling us to accept the radical novelty of the Kingdom he has come to inaugurate, and to be ready to give up what is now old to be able to embrace it fully. So many opportunities are lost because we, as individuals and as communities, are not ready to leave behind us what is no longer valid and useful, and look for painless change. In doing so, we lose both the wine and the wineskins.

PRAYER:

Lord, please fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in your great love and truth. Help me to seek you through prayer and fasting that I may turn away from sin and transform my life to your will. May I always find time to celebrate the joy of knowing, loving, and serving you.

Question About Fasting

MARCH 04, 2022, FRIDAY

Friday after Ash Wednesday (Violet)

CYCLE C - YEAR II

Lectionary: 221

Reading I

Is 58:1-9a

Thus says the Lord GOD:

Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,

            lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;

Tell my people their wickedness,

            and the house of Jacob their sins.

They seek me day after day,

            and desire to know my ways,

Like a nation that has done what is just

            and not abandoned the law of their God;

They ask me to declare what is due them,

            pleased to gain access to God.

“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?

            afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”

Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,

            and drive all your laborers.

Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,

            striking with wicked claw.

Would that today you might fast

            so as to make your voice heard on high!

Is this the manner of fasting I wish,

            of keeping a day of penance:

That a man bow his head like a reed

            and lie in sackcloth and ashes?

Do you call this a fast,

            a day acceptable to the LORD?

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:

            releasing those bound unjustly,

            untying the thongs of the yoke;

Setting free the oppressed

            breaking every yoke;

Sharing your bread with the hungry,

            sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;

Clothing the naked when you see them,

            and not turning your back on your own.

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

            and your wound shall quickly be healed;

Your vindication shall go before you,

            and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,

            you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!

Responsorial Psalm

51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19

R.        (19b) A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;

            in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.

Thoroughly wash me from my guilt

            and of my sin cleanse me.

R.        A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

For I acknowledge my offense,

            and my sin is before me always:

“Against you only have I sinned,

            and done what is evil in your sight.”

R.        A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

For you are not pleased with sacrifices;

            should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.

My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;

            a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

R.        A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Verse Before the Gospel

See Am 5:14

Seek good and not evil so that you may live,

and the Lord will be with you.

Gospel

Mt 9:14-15

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,

“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,

but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn

as long as the bridegroom is with them?

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,

and then they will fast.”

REFLECTION:

The Pharisees and the disciples of John fasted several times a week. Fasting shows self-control, it is a symbol of mourning, and it purifies the heart. Most of all it expresses an inner hunger for God. Here Jesus uses the notion of fasting to reveal that the God whom the Jews hunger for has arrived. Rejoicing not mourning is the appropriate response to the presence of divine mercy revealed in Jesus.

Spend some time each day allowing the joy of God fill the heart. Spend some time mourning with him, as joy is lost for so many. Any fasting is to remind us that the Lord of all joy suffers in his people, perhaps in people who are near to us. Prayer brings us near to others and near to God.

PRAYER:

Lord, this Lent let me feast with gratitude for your merciful love, and let me fast from oppressive behaviour towards those around me. May my prayer and my fasting reveal my inner hunger for you.

Question About Fasting

February 19, 2021, Friday
Friday after Ash Wednesday (Violet)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
RDGS: IS 58:1-9/ PS 51:3-4. 5-6. 18-19
GOSPEL: MT 9:14-15

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, 

"Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast."

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

The Pharisees and the disciples of John fasted several times a week. Fasting shows self-control, it is a symbol of mourning, and it purifies the heart. Most of all it expresses an inner hunger for God. Here Jesus uses the notion of fasting to reveal that the God whom the Jews hunger for has arrived. Rejoicing not mourning is the appropriate response to the presence of divine mercy revealed in Jesus.

Spend some time each day allowing the joy of God fills the heart. Spend some time mourning with him, as joy is lost for so many. Any fasting is to remind us that the Lord of all joy suffers in his people, perhaps in people who are near to us. Prayer brings us near to others and near to God.

PRAYER:

Lord, this Lent let me feast with gratitude for your merciful love, and let me fast from oppressive behavior towards those around me. May my prayer and my fasting reveal my inner hunger for you.