22nd Friday in Ordinary Time, Yr 2, September 2, 2022
1 Cor 4:1-5; Ps 37:3-6, 27-28, 39-40; Lk 5:33-39
Who are you letting be your judge? I mean, with all the internet social media apps out there, are we letting ourselves be judged by the world? St. Paul laughs at that notion, or he would if there was the internet in 56 AD! “It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal.” I do not think St. Paul was being arrogant and suggesting he was above everyone else. He was above all else, absolutely sure where he put his faith, and who was judging him. The lesson we can learn from this is, the truth is the truth, and it never fails. If we are to be judged, we should only be judged by how we are living up to the truth, not to worldly standards. This is counter-cultural I know, but we are counter-cultural today, aren’t we? To believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, is very counter-cultural to the world’s view today.
Jesus describes the difficulty of mixing the world’s views with our views in the Gospel today. It is sometimes very difficult and not very pleasant to everyone involved, but it is an absolute necessity for us to survive in this modern world, while still holding fast to the truth.
Going back to who is judging you, if we were to allow the world to judge us, we would be like the old wine being poured into the old wineskins. Comfortable, following along our old ways and not having the worry of being broken. But, if we are made new in Jesus Christ and still allow ourselves to be judged by the world, it is like pouring new wine into the old wineskins. We will burst the wineskins and all our newness, our new wine, will be wasted. Nothing will be accomplished. However, if we allow ourselves to be made new, we must be allowed to put ourselves in the new wineskins where we will grow, and stretch, without breaking, we will be judged on how we are living up to the truth, just like St. Paul was, and not of the world’s ways.
Let us be judged by the Lord, for through Him, our light will shine and then everyone will praise God!
Saint James Catholic Church 