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Gospel: Mark 2: 18-22
The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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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 rip and tear, as Jesus describes in today’s Gospel.
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What is this “new wine” that the Lord is speaking of? And who are the “wine skins”?
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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 to expand, which at times, can be uncomfortable.
If the Apostles are going to become who Jesus desires them to be – the foundation of the Church and his witnesses to the ends of the earth – then they must be willing to be stretched like new wineskins.
This stretching begins during their earthly journey with Jesus, as they digest his teachings and witness his miracles, but their transformation is complete at Pentecost.
There, they are no longer the same fishermen who dropped their nets on the shores of Galilee, nor are they the same men who fled fearfully from Calvary. They become emboldened; determined; convinced; ready to do the Lord’s will.
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At times, we all need a little stretching – a change in belief, a renewal of spirit.
But God will not force himself upon us; we must be willing to change. As Saint Thomas Aquinas once said, “grace builds upon nature.”
So, where am I in need of renewal, an infusion of divine grace?
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In the words of Saint Paul, “May God who has begun this good work within us bring it to fulfillment.”
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Image credits: (1) Lay Cistercians of South Florida (2) Daily Dose with Dr.Shermaine (3) Medium