Friday 22nd week in ordinary time
"Lk 5:33-39"
Jesus told them a parable: "No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment; if he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins'."
In the old days they didn't store wine in bottles which were far too expensive. They used containers made of animal skin, particularly convenient for transportation, as they could be carried easily, were lightweight, and would occupy less and less space as the liquid was consumed. However, wineskins had to be treated with care, since the leather became worn over time and could easily rupture, especially if filled with unfermented ('new') wine.
Over the years, the Pharisees had begun resisting more and more any 'new' approach to Divine Revelation to the one they already held. They thought they 'knew' everything and therefore they expected nothing 'new'. But Jesus came to preach the Good 'News' and the Pharisees weren't ready to receive it, like old wineskins that can't retain new wine: they leaked, they broke and they spilled everything.
Nowadays, some people (like the Pharisees) aren't ready to receive the Word of God. Jesus wants to speak to them and change their lives but they are not receptive. They don't want to know. They don't like anything new. They are comfortable as they are. They may even pray; they come, tell their story and leave; but they don't listen to God. Like the tale of a lady who was praying about her vocation; maybe God wanted her to become a nun, but she wasn't very keen on the idea. She would go to the chapel and pray in front of a statue of Our Lady holding Baby Jesus, and repeat again and again, "Should I become a nun or a wife?" One day the Baby Jesus opened His mouth and replied, "A nun, my dear." And the unhappy lady, a bit upset, replied, "Be quiet, Child! I'm talking to Your Mother..." She obviously didn't want to know.
Mary, my Mother, may I learn from you to listen to God and to do what He wants me to do.
