***
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.
***
***
Fermentation is the process that turns grape juice into wine. During fermentation, gas is released, causing the wineskins to expand, which is why new, stretchy wineskins must be used. Old skins would rip and tear, as Jesus says in today’s Gospel.
***
What is this “new wine” that the Lord is speaking of? Who are the “wine skins?”
***
Most directly, the Lord is speaking to his Apostles. He longs to pour the “new wine” of his love into their hearts. However, divine love releases grace, causing the human heart and spirit to expand, which at times, can be uncomfortable.
If the Apostles are going to become who Jesus desires them to be – his witnesses, the foundation of the Church, and some of the greatest missionaries of all time – then they must make room, welcoming the “stretchiness” of the Spirit, allowing for intense inner growth.
While this stretching began to occur during their earthly journey with Jesus, as they digested his teachings and witnessed his miracles, their transformation was fulfilled at Pentecost.
There, they were no longer the same fishermen who dropped their nets on the shores of Galilee three years prior, nor were they the same cowards who fled in fear from Calvary. They were bold; determined; convinced; ready to do the Lord’s will.
***
The Church still needs this type of renewal – stretching – as it seeks to make room for all, both the sinner and the saint.
We need this type of renewal within ourselves, too. How often do our own attitudes, habits, even theology – or understanding of God – become old; rigid; in need of a little stretching?
God will not force any change upon us, certainly anything we are capable of doing ourselves; the Spirit of Love conquers gently. Never by force. As Saint Thomas Aquinas once said, “grace builds upon nature.”
***
So, how open am I to being stretched?
***
In the words of Saint Paul, “May the God who has begun this good work within you bring it to fulfillment.”
***
***
Image credits: (1) Breakfast with Jesus (2) Wine Making and Beer Brewing Blog (3) Christianity.com