“The old is good.” Lk 5:39
A few years ago about sixty of us gathered for our 50th high school reunion. Almost as soon as we arrived, we found ourselves talking about the “old days." Looking at old photographs, we remembered names we hadn't spoken in decades and reveled in what used to be. It was fun, warming and satisfying, but I know it is not the way to live each day. Sometimes when we older friars gather we forget that there are young men with us who have heard our stories a thousand times, and who, very frankly, are bored with us. Perhaps it is because we not just remembering the past, we seem to be stuck in it.
Jesus warns us about this in today’s gospel. For some of his Jewish clansmen and family there is a resistance to the “new” word that Jesus is announcing. Satisfied, or at least comfortable with what they know of God and God’s revelation to Israel, they do not want to hear anything that might suggest something was lacking in their own faith. But Jesus insists that one can’t pour old wine into new wineskins, otherwise the wineskins will burst and all the wine will be lost.
And the truth is this. Unless we are ready to embrace whatever helps the world to know God more fully, we will fail in the mission Jesus handed on to us. Christ is given to us, not simply for our own salvation, but for the salvation of the world.
Today, pray for a new insight about faith and embrace it.
Who or what has helped you grow in your faith oommitment to be Good News?
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