1 Corinthians 4: l -5,
Psalm 37:3-4.5-6.27-26.39-40,
Luke 5 :33-39 Full Readings
Blessed John Francis Burté and Companions
When the Bridegroom is still Around
Today's Gospel presents to us two aspects of feasting and fasting. After being asked by the Pharisees about why his disciples were not fasting as John's disciples as wells the disciples of the Pharisees did, Jesus tells them that they cannot fast when the bridegroom is still with them; but when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast. He also brings in two other parables: of not putting a new cloth on the old one and of not putting new wine in old wine skins. Jesus' response not only brings a new meaning of fasting but also through the two parables parables, teaches that it is a new Messianic era where everything has been made new and the old can no longer hold. It is the time of recreation and making new, for Jesus came to make all things new and correct what was anti kingdom, thus showing us a right way to follow.
One of the outstanding characters of the Pharisees and Scribes was being critical and judgmental, and it is unfortunate that some of their judgements were from uninformed perspective and so always misjudged Jesus. This even extended to the behaviors of Jesus’ followers. Jesus’ followers were being judged to be less holy than other disciples with whom they were acquainted. St. Paul reminds us in today’s first reading to “not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness” (1 Corinthians 4:5). We are challenged not to judge others especially concerning their spiritual exercises; we can always pray for them and suggest for them what may help them grow spiritually but not to judge them. Remember everyone has his or his own way of talking to God. When others judge us for following Our Lord, let us be unperturbed and say as St. Paul said, “It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal.”
Were the Scribes and the Pharisees not right because they had never seen Jesus disciples fasting nor participating in what they considered to be “prayer.” Why were Jesus' disciples not doing these things? Because the bridegroom was still around. Little did the Pharisees realize that conversing with Jesus was, in fact, the very definition of prayer! We can deduce from eyewitness testimonies that the Pharisees and the followers of John the Baptist had a number of admirable qualities, such as obedience, zeal, and perseverance. However, Jesus calls us to a higher standard; he exhorts us to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). And the most reliable way to “achieve” this perfection is through prayer and the sacraments. The disciples had all these physically; they only needed to listen and learn from Jesus.
But then when the bridegroom leaves them they will fast. By this statement, Jesus gives fasting a new meaning. Fasting had just become an outward religious exercise and ritual without any spiritual gain. And so Jesus, firstly, wants to show that we should not fast for the sake of fasting but we should fast to seek the presence of God, to be with God in our hearts. The time when Jesus leaves then physically, they will need to fast and long for Jesus in their hearts. For the disciple there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and celebrating his goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with humility and fasting and for mourning over sin for sometimes we fail as human beings. The only thing we should thirst and hunger for mostly is to be in the presence of God and also God to be in our midst. If we are in his presence, as the disciples were, we don't need to fast but we should feast. If we feel that we have gone away from his presence, then we should fast, thirst and hunger for him.
The Old and the New. This can be understood in two ways: Firstly, the new wine is the new life of grace we have been blessed with in abundance and the old wineskins are our old fallen natures and the old law. What Jesus is telling us is that if we wish to receive His grace and mercy in our lives we must allow Him to transform our old selves into new creations and embrace the new law of grace. Lord Jesus gives us wisdom so we can make the best use of both the old and the new. He doesn't want us to hold rigidly to the past and to be resistant to the new action of his Holy Spirit in our lives. He wants our minds and hearts to be like the new wine skins - open and ready to receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, as Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew 13:52), these can mean the Old and New Testaments. We are not to only cling on the Old Testament but accept the New also as a fulfilment of the Old. Are you eager to grow in the knowledge and understanding of God's word and plan for your life?
Let us pray
Lord, make me new wineskins which will hold your new wine so that I may embrace the new meaning which you have given things. Amen
Be blessed.
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