Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
September 4, 2020
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Luke 5:33-39
Now come the Pharisees–rigorists who pestered Jesus throughout his ministry because he didn’t observe the Jewish law as severely as they did. “Why don’t you people fast like we do?” they ask. Observant Jews fasted as an expiation for sin, as penitence, as a sign of mourning, to express their wretchedness before God.
Jesus responds that there’s no reason for his disciples to fast yet–no reason for them to be somber. There’s a new state of things here–a state of joyfulness and innovation. The appropriate response is rejoicing, like guests at a wedding. You don’t respond to the newness that Jesus is proclaiming by grim dolefulness.
Jesus expects his followers to be happy, to be joyful, to be grateful in his company.
