Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
September 2, 2022
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090222.cfm
Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Jesus changes the narrative for living a good and holy life. He offers the Pharisees “new wine”, the freedom of his law of love over their accustomed law of requirements.
Have you ever found yourself in circumstances where you’re saying or hearing things like this:
- It’s the law
- That’s the way we’ve always done it
- Sorry. They’re the rules.
- Doesn’t matter. No exceptions.
In such situations, we are experiencing a code of limitations where we are defined either by what we must do or must not do.
The Pharisaical law had become such a code, its spirit and freedom worn away by ages of control, authoritarianism, and brittle institutionalization.
Jesus preaches the new law of love, which can sound a little squishy and self-indulgent at first, because our navel-gazing culture has so eviscerated the meaning of love.
But real Christian love is the hardest “code” we will ever practice. Patterned on Jesus’ life, it is a discipline of mercy, self-sacrifice, radical inclusivity, non-violence, and forgiveness. Such a love will die for the sake of the beloved’s life in God.
Drinking this “new wine” brings us a profound freedom in God Who loves us like this — but infinitely.
Poetry:
Music: New Wine – Hillsong
Lavish Mercy 