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FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME,  SEPTEMBER 4, 2026

REFLECTION: LUKE 5:33-39

THEME: ADHERE TO THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST

The Pharisees fasted twice a week as a sign of piety. It appears that the disciples of John did the same or even more, since John himself lived on locusts and wild honey. For the Pharisees, public fasting, prayers, and almsgiving which formed the basis of the Judaism religion should be practiced more by Jesus who claimed to be the Son of God. Usually, the Pharisees looked unkept while fasting in order to draw attention of holiness from people. 

Jesus and his disciples were different. For Jesus, if you want to fast, clean up yourself, cream your body, look normal, cheer up, and do not let anyone know that you are fasting, except God who sees in secret (Mathew 6:17-18). Jesus used the opportunity of their questions to teach them new things about fasting. 

Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom in a wedding. In the Jewish culture, the wedding day and the wedding month used to be a period of merriment for the new couple and their close friends. The presence of Jesus among his disciples is like the wedding period.  There is time for fasting and there is time for merriment. The wedding period is not a time for fasting. Thus, Jesus did not condemn fasting. Rather, there is time for everything. 

Jesus gives two other examples in continuation to his teaching. No one tears a piece from a new cloth to patch an old one. That will mean destroying the new cloth. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wine skins. By these words, Jesus is saying that he is bringing new teachings on fasting and on other ways as against their old ways of practicing religious piety. The Scribes and the pharisees must be ready to embrace these new teachings of Jesus. They should not cling to their old ways and claim they were the best. For example, their understanding of fasting must change. Fasting is a private religious act between a person and his God. It should not be public and they should not be going about looking for who was fasting and who was not.

As Christians of today, this encounter teaches us that religious piety is for personal salvation. You can decide to develop various ways of building up relationship with God. Prayer, Fasting, almsgiving, adoration to the blessed Sacrament, devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and devotions to the Saints, are some of the ways we can develop better relationships with God. Whichever you decide to do is good. You can also encourage people to join. But you cannot force people to do it your own way. Do not claim that your own group or method is the best. The church has approved guidelines to practice these various devotions and we must follow them strictly.

As Jesus taught the Scribes and Pharisees to open up to his new teachings,  Jesus instructs us today to listen to the teachings of the church as pronounced by the Pope and the magisterium. Jesus handed his new teachings over to the Apostles. The Pope is the successor of the Apostles. The Pope and the magisterium follow that tradition to guide the church today. By listening to the Pope and the magisterium, we are keeping to the directives and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

We pray for the grace to be docile to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as being pronounced from the Pope and the magisterium. 

Jesus Loves You!