FR. JUSTIN’S HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 22ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: LIVING RIGHTLY
BY: Fr. Justin Nzekwe
HOMILY FOR FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2 2022
As Christians, God has given us a great responsibility to be administrators of his mysteries. It is a responsibility that demands faithfulness from us. The intention of God is that we might all be accountable to him for the way we live our lives as servants of God. If we live rightly, God will reward us, and if we live our lives wrongly, God will also reward us. God will reward each of us according to our deeds. Therefore God expect us to use all our time and energy to serve him without being distracted. We must not waste our time on judging other and determining those who are making effort and those who are not making effort. It is not our duty to judge others as sinners or as righteous, for every judgment belongs to God. Saint Paul says in the first reading of today, “I care very little about being judged by you or by a human court; on the contrary, I do not even judge myself, because, even if I am not aware of any fault, I am not justified for this. My judge is the Lord!” Only God knows those who are righteous, because he sees the innermost secret of human heart. Our attention at the moment is knowing how to please God. Just like the gospel reading of today reminds us, that we must be able to avoid pouring fresh wine into an old wineskin, so that the new wine will not split the skins, spread and the skins will be lost. We must also avoid tearing a piece from a new dress to put it on an old dress; so that the new dress will not tear away and the piece taken from the new will not adapt to the old. If we are servants of God, then we should be able to avoid the distractions of our old lives in order to concentrate on the new life in Christ Jesus.
We must be able to be that new dress which is stronger and the new wine which has greater strength. We must also be conscious of our duties as administrators by making every effort to please God through the way we live our lives, so that God whom we serve faithfully will also reward all our efforts generously.