new wine LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME

DAILY GOSPEL COMMENTARY: NEW WINE MUST BE POURED INTO FRESH WINESKINS (Lk 5:33–39).

DAILY GOSPEL COMMENTARY:
NEW WINE MUST BE POURED INTO FRESH WINESKINS (Lk 5:33–39).

Painter: Yonsung Kim. Credit to the owner of the photo.

Gospel of Friday, 22nd week in Ordinary time
Lk 5:33–39

A discussion on fasting. New wine, fresh wineskins.

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.’”

Gospel Commentary from the Navarre Bible, Commentary to the Gospel of St. Luke (with permission)

  • 33-35 In the Old Testament God established certain days as days of fasting — the main one being the “day of atonement” (Num 29:7; Acts 27:9).
    • Fasting implied total or partial abstinence from food or drink. Moses and Elijah fasted (Ex 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8) and our Lord himself fasted in the desert for forty days before beginning his public ministry.
      • In the present passage Jesus gives a deeper meaning to the word “fasting” — the deprivation of his physical presence which his Apostles would experience after his death.
      • All through his public life Jesus is trying to prepare his disciples for the final parting. At first the Apostles were not very robust and Christ’s physical presence did them more good than the practice of fasting.
    • Christians should sometimes abstain from food. “Fast and abstain from flesh meat when Holy Mother Church so ordains” (St Pius X, Catechism of Christian Doctrine, 495).
      • That is the purpose of the fourth commandment of the Church, but it has a deeper meaning, as St Leo the Great tells us: “The merit of our fasts does not consist only in abstinence from food; there is no use in depriving the body of nourishment if the soul does not cut itself off from iniquity and if the tongue does not cease to speak evil” (Sermo IV in Quadragesima).
  • As for the meaning of new wine put into fresh wineskins, Jesus uses this analogy to describe the novelty of his message (new wine) —as compared to the Old Testament— which must be received with new dispositions (fresh wineskins).
    • Hardness of heart leads one to reject the divine origin and nature of Our Lord Jesus Christ and his message, thereby, wasting the opportunity to receive God’s grace and mercy.
    • A change of heart and proper dispositions of humility, simplicity, and sincerity, are necessary in order to welcome Jesus in our life.

VIDEO COMMENTARY

TOPIC: Are you allergic to change?

TOPIC 2: HAVE YOU EVER DONE FASTING IN YOUR TIMES OF CRISIS?

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus answers the question of the scribes and Pharisees on why his disciples do not fast. He refers to himself in this instance as the bridegroom and his disciples as the bridegroom’s attendants who cannot be made to fast while the bridegroom is still present. Jesus’ ministry may be akin to a wedding feast filled with joy. Fasting will only be appropriate, Jesus says, when He is taken away, after His death and resurrection.

Today, we face many crises in our personal and collective life as a people. This Covid-19 pandemic, with its Delta and Lambda mutations have changed our daily routines, and now challenges us to revisit our faith in a deeper way. In our journey to holiness, we are reminded of its three disciplines that we must observe: prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Stay updated: subscribe by email for free TO OUR NEW WEBSITE www.catholicsstrivingforholiness.org (PUT YOUR EMAIL IN THE SUBSCRIBE WIDGET).
We are also in www.fb.com/Catholicsstrivingforholiness. Kindly help more people in their Christian life by liking our page and inviting your family, friends and relatives to do so as well. Thanks in advance and God bless you and your loved ones! Fr. Rolly Arjonillo

Tags