Jan 16 2006

Mk 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 new wineskins are needed for the fresh wine or the skins will burst. Jesus is teaching in parable again that a new way of thinking is needed. The Pharasees want Jesus and his disciples to fast. A day will come when they will fast but while Jesus is with them it is not the time to fast. How many times have I approached a situation and not even considered that how I am viewing the situation and my reactions and plans are all based on past experiences and not what is actually happening in front of me at the time. It is a challenge of daily conversion, turning to God and a constant awareness of the need to have an open and willing heart to hear the Word and will of God in all things. I pray today for a freedom in thinking and vision from the old wineskins and an open and willing heart.