Friday after Ash Wednesday
Readings for Friday after Ash Wednesday[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading I: Isaiah 58:1-9a
Thus says the Lord GOD:
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 58:1-9a
This passage is from what is known as Deutero-Isaiah. It was written in the latter part of the Babylonian exile (700 BC). The prophet begins this passage with a recounting of God’s call to him and his mission statement; “Tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Better is the Jerusalem Bible translation; “Proclaim their faults to my people, their sins to the House of Jacob.”
Isaiah’s lament continues as he chastises the people for missing the point of their fasts of atonement. They perform the rituals and follow the law but then violate the spirit of God’s Law by being uncaring and cruel to each other.
Finally the prophet explains what that spirit is and how it is to impact their actions and closes with the reward for following the spirit of God’s Law – “Your integrity will go before you and the glory of the Lord behind you. Cry, and the Lord will answer; call, and he will say, ‘I am here’.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19
R. (19b) A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19
The psalm, 51, the most famous of the seven penitential psalms, repeats the sentiment expressed in Isaiah regarding first the need for heartfelt repentance on the part of the faithful. It goes on to emphasize the need for forgiveness. The final strophe is parallel to Isaiah’s description of the acceptable fast in Isaiah 58:6-7 (above).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 9:14-15
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 9:14-15
Jesus is challenged by the disciples of John the Baptist and asked why his disciples do not keep the ritual fasts of Pharisaic Law (According to the apostolic response in their early teaching documents, the early Christians were to fast on different days than the Jews. “But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; Matthew 6:16 for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week; but do ye fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday).” Didache (8.1)[4])
The Lord responds with the analogy of a marriage banquet were there can be no mourning as long as the bridegroom is present. He refers, of course, to his own presence and the need for fasting only after he is gone.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Tradition holds that Fridays are days of penitence and fasting. Church history dating to the early patristic era interpret the Gospel from St. Matthew as setting our fast on Fridays (hence the old tradition of abstinence on Fridays). We are aware that most Catholics do not keep this tradition except during Lent, but in the early Church it is clear that the need for frequent fasting was felt more acutely.
Two questions spring from this observation. First, why did the early Church feel the need to fast more frequently and second why do we find it such a hardship to fast only a few days of the year?
The answer to the first part is fairly easy. The early Christians, especially around the modern-day regions of Israel, Lebanon, and Palestine were primarily of Jewish origin and their customs and traditions were often borrowed and adapted to their new understanding of the promise fulfilled in Christ. As is indicated in the brief quote from the Didache “But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; Matthew 6:16 for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week; but do ye fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday).” While the Jewish traditions were felt to be important based upon Old Testament teaching, the early Christians did not want to be seen as the hypocrites Jesus identified among the pharisaic ranks. The easiest way to do that was to change Hebrew tradition; at once retaining the credibility of faith in Old Testament teaching but differentiating itself so as not to be confused with empty rituals practiced by the Pharisees.
The second question is more difficult; why do modern Catholics find it such a hardship to fast only a few days of the year? First, from personal experience, it has not been an established tradition nor an explicit part of the discipline of faith most post-Vatican II Catholics have been taught to follow. There are other reasons. Fasting and abstinence are uncomfortable, physically and spiritually. They remind us of our need for atonement and our need to be grateful to God for what we are given (and take pretty much for granted in spite of grace at meals).
There is the more fundamental reason for this feeling of hardship at the thought of fasting and abstinence. That is, in spite of our attempts to remain immune to the affects of secular morality, many of our actions which in an earlier age would have been considered sinful are seen as trivial in comparison to the socially accepted behavior of our society. In other words, we don’t feel guilt the way we used to. We have become to a large degree – desensitized to the discipline of our faith.
The Lenten season is a time for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In this season, let us pledge to sharpen our sense of what is right and wrong in God’s eyes. Let us pray for the gift of that sight. Let us adopt the discipline of fasting and abstinence with joy, and let us give alms as we are able.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “An Apostle with Folded Hands” by Sir Anthony van Dyck, 1618-20
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
[4] The Didache was written in the first or second century A.D. and was recommended by Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 265-c. 340)
Readings for Friday after Ash Wednesday[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading I: Isaiah 58:1-9a
Thus says the Lord GOD:
Cry out full-throated and unsparingly,
lift up your voice like a trumpet blast;
Tell my people their wickedness,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
and desire to know my ways,
Like a nation that has done what is just
and not abandoned the law of their God;
They ask me to declare what is due them,
pleased to gain access to God.
“Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”
Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.
Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!
Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 58:1-9a
This passage is from what is known as Deutero-Isaiah. It was written in the latter part of the Babylonian exile (700 BC). The prophet begins this passage with a recounting of God’s call to him and his mission statement; “Tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Better is the Jerusalem Bible translation; “Proclaim their faults to my people, their sins to the House of Jacob.”
Isaiah’s lament continues as he chastises the people for missing the point of their fasts of atonement. They perform the rituals and follow the law but then violate the spirit of God’s Law by being uncaring and cruel to each other.
Finally the prophet explains what that spirit is and how it is to impact their actions and closes with the reward for following the spirit of God’s Law – “Your integrity will go before you and the glory of the Lord behind you. Cry, and the Lord will answer; call, and he will say, ‘I am here’.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19
R. (19b) A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19
The psalm, 51, the most famous of the seven penitential psalms, repeats the sentiment expressed in Isaiah regarding first the need for heartfelt repentance on the part of the faithful. It goes on to emphasize the need for forgiveness. The final strophe is parallel to Isaiah’s description of the acceptable fast in Isaiah 58:6-7 (above).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 9:14-15
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 9:14-15
Jesus is challenged by the disciples of John the Baptist and asked why his disciples do not keep the ritual fasts of Pharisaic Law (According to the apostolic response in their early teaching documents, the early Christians were to fast on different days than the Jews. “But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; Matthew 6:16 for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week; but do ye fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday).” Didache (8.1)[4])
The Lord responds with the analogy of a marriage banquet were there can be no mourning as long as the bridegroom is present. He refers, of course, to his own presence and the need for fasting only after he is gone.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Tradition holds that Fridays are days of penitence and fasting. Church history dating to the early patristic era interpret the Gospel from St. Matthew as setting our fast on Fridays (hence the old tradition of abstinence on Fridays). We are aware that most Catholics do not keep this tradition except during Lent, but in the early Church it is clear that the need for frequent fasting was felt more acutely.
Two questions spring from this observation. First, why did the early Church feel the need to fast more frequently and second why do we find it such a hardship to fast only a few days of the year?
The answer to the first part is fairly easy. The early Christians, especially around the modern-day regions of Israel, Lebanon, and Palestine were primarily of Jewish origin and their customs and traditions were often borrowed and adapted to their new understanding of the promise fulfilled in Christ. As is indicated in the brief quote from the Didache “But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; Matthew 6:16 for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week; but do ye fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday).” While the Jewish traditions were felt to be important based upon Old Testament teaching, the early Christians did not want to be seen as the hypocrites Jesus identified among the pharisaic ranks. The easiest way to do that was to change Hebrew tradition; at once retaining the credibility of faith in Old Testament teaching but differentiating itself so as not to be confused with empty rituals practiced by the Pharisees.
The second question is more difficult; why do modern Catholics find it such a hardship to fast only a few days of the year? First, from personal experience, it has not been an established tradition nor an explicit part of the discipline of faith most post-Vatican II Catholics have been taught to follow. There are other reasons. Fasting and abstinence are uncomfortable, physically and spiritually. They remind us of our need for atonement and our need to be grateful to God for what we are given (and take pretty much for granted in spite of grace at meals).
There is the more fundamental reason for this feeling of hardship at the thought of fasting and abstinence. That is, in spite of our attempts to remain immune to the affects of secular morality, many of our actions which in an earlier age would have been considered sinful are seen as trivial in comparison to the socially accepted behavior of our society. In other words, we don’t feel guilt the way we used to. We have become to a large degree – desensitized to the discipline of our faith.
The Lenten season is a time for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In this season, let us pledge to sharpen our sense of what is right and wrong in God’s eyes. Let us pray for the gift of that sight. Let us adopt the discipline of fasting and abstinence with joy, and let us give alms as we are able.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “An Apostle with Folded Hands” by Sir Anthony van Dyck, 1618-20
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
[4] The Didache was written in the first or second century A.D. and was recommended by Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 265-c. 340)
1 comment:
Great ideas...I will use some of them in my sermon..Thanks
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