Gospel: Luke 5:33-39
The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink.” Jesus answered them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.” And he also told them a parable. “No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”
The Gospel of the Lord.
The Mass intention is for Mother Damian’s intentions.
Reflection:
The scribes and Pharisees have ganged up on Jesus by questioning how come the His disciples eat and drink while their followers and those of John the Baptist fast and pray. Jesus gave them a sensible answer: “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?”. Instead of exposing Jesus as a fraud, it was the scribes and Pharisees’ narrowmindedness that was uncovered.
Fasting has been a popular act of penance during Lent and other seasons. Most of us do this too an hour before receiving Holy Communion. It is our way of expressing our longing for the Lord who alone can satisfy our heart’s desire. This longing for the Lord was something that the scribes and Pharisees did not get at all. Trapped in their hypocrisy, they considered fasting as mere obligation. The newness that Jesus offers challenges us to change our mindset from doing things “out of obligation” to doing things “out of love”. Jesus’ teaching is like the new wine skin that cannot be poured into our old wineskins (or mindsets). If we want to savour and enjoy this new wine, we must be open to new ways of knowing.
· How does fasting develop you as a Christian?
· How open are you to all of Jesus’ teachings?
· What ways of thinking do you have that are not compatible with Jesus’ ways of thinking?
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word today. Grant us a heart that would always welcome the newness brought about by Your teaching. Amen.
Sincerely,
Pietro
