It is the First Friday of the month, 2nd September 2016. The readings are from 1Corinthians 4:1-5; and the Gospel from Luke 5:33-39. The first reading teaches us that God alone can judge, praise and reward the faithful servant. “There must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until the Lord comes.” (1 Cor.4:4). We are so often too fast in passing judgement on how things should be. When someone new does something different from what we were already doing, we end up in quick judgements. Some of us have a spirit of judging the other no matter what the good they do. What is truly required of each one of us is to give God the honour of judging the other until then we need be faithful to what is entrusted to us. We too are reminded today that whatever we have been entrusted with in our family life or in religious life, we will have to stand in front of God one day for the final assessment. The responsorial Psalm acclaims, “The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.” (Ps.36:9). The Gospel proposes the lesson on prayer and fasting which are the oldest, and the most reliable in our spiritual awakening. Nothing new can patch the old blanket of spirituality. It is through prayer and fasting, we become open and adaptable to the newness in the values of the Gospels. We must pay attention to keep the balance between what is already in place while introducing something new and be not rushing to judge and discard what is existing already. We need to cultivate the unbiased willingness to be ready to discuss, to rethink, to discern and to re-express in relevant ways. Fidelity and prudence are the keys for such adaptations of newness. May God bless you to have good day.