Friday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
New Wine, New Joy: Living Faith with Fresh Hearts
Alternative Celebration: Learn more here.
Other Celebrations for this Day:
Liturgical Cycle: C | Lectionary Cycle: I
Introduction
In today’s first reading, Paul makes, or more probably uses, a liturgical hymn that describes the primacy of Christ as the Lord of all. This is precisely the core of our faith, that Christ is the firstborn of creation, and, as the risen Lord, the head of all humanity, the principle of authority and vitality, the source of all life and growth. He restores people and all things from alienation.
We are created anew in Christ, the Lord and the new beginning of all. With Christ, we have to renounce all compromises with the old in us and live in the new spirit of Christ. How well have we accepted the renewal that Vatican II asks of us?
Opening Prayer
Faithful God of tenderness and mercy,
you want us to be your people
on the march with Jesus your Son
toward a new future of justice and love.
Do not allow us to suffocate in being contented
with old habits and sluggish ways.
Help us to accept the pain
of leaving the familiar behind us
and open us to the challenge of the gospel
to become more like your Son
who guides our faltering steps,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
First Reading
Christ, Savior and Firstborn of All Creation
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For, in him, all things were created:
Things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible:
Thrones, rulers, authorities, powers.
All was made through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body,
the Church, he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
that he himself might be preeminent
in everything.
For God was pleased to dwell fully in him.
Through him, God chose to reconcile all things to himself,
and through his blood shed on the cross,
God establishes peace on earth and in heaven.
Responsorial Psalm
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
For he is good,
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus:
“The disciples of John fast often and say long prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why is it that your disciples eat and drink?”
Then Jesus said to them:
But later the bridegroom will be taken from them and they will fast in those days.”
Jesus also shared a parable:
Still, no one who has tasted old wine is eager to try new wine, because they say, ‘The old is good.’”
Prayers of the Faithful
– For the Church, that the People of God and its leaders may heed the promptings of the creative Spirit to speak to the people of today the ever-new language of the gospel, we pray:
– For artists, poets and inventors, that they may reveal to us the splendor of creation and the newness of life in Christ, we pray:
– For this community, that we may not be afraid of authentic change and draw from Christ the courage to start the reform of the Church and the world with the renewal of ourselves, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in these signs of bread and wine
your Son Jesus Christ comes among us
to make with us a new beginning.
Create us anew in him.
Reconcile us with you and each other
and make us builders with him
of a new world
in which he is our Lord for ever.
Prayer after Communion
God of hope,
you have given us Jesus your Son
as our companion on the road
for understanding the old, familiar things
with new and young hearts.
Let him prod us on
when we try to compromise
by merely patching up the old here and there.
Let your Spirit blow on us
your vigorous breath of life
to renew us and our world
with your mercy and justice.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Blessing
We must ask ourselves from time to time how faithful we are to the gospel. It is easy to become fossilised. The gospel wants us to stay young and ever new. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Reflection
5 September 2025
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Luke 5:33-39
New Wine, New Joy: Living Faith with Fresh Hearts - Youtube
In today’s Gospel the Pharisees confront Jesus for the joy and freedom of his disciples. They were used to a religion of rules—fasting at fixed times, praying at fixed hours, and showing off piety with pale faces. Religion, for them, was meant to be heavy and uncomfortable.
But Jesus reveals something radically different: faith is not about misery, but about joy. He compares life with Him to a wedding feast, where the friends of the bridegroom share in the couple’s happiness. Christianity is not meant to suffocate life, but to fill it with light, laughter, and hope.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta often reminded her sisters that joy is a sign of holiness. She said, “A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.” Like Jesus, she knew that faith lived in gloom loses its attraction. Instead, Christian witness should make others “feel bathed in sunshine.”
But Jesus also warns that joy cannot be bottled in rigid minds and hardened traditions. He speaks of new patches on old garments and new wine in fresh wineskins. Faith must remain open to the Spirit, ready to grow, adapt, and bear fruit in changing times. To cling stubbornly to old ways can burst the wineskin and tear the cloth apart.
The Gospel challenges us: Are our hearts supple enough to receive the “new wine” of God’s Spirit? Or have we become hardened like old skins, unable to stretch? True discipleship means keeping our minds and hearts open, unafraid of fresh movements of grace.
Let us dare to live faith as Jesus and Mother Teresa did—with joy, with freedom, and with courage to embrace the new. For in Christ, the best wine is always still to come.