Gospel
From the Gospel according to Mark. 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.”
“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 Gospel of the Lord
New Wine and New Marriage
Once we are converted, we cannot combine a life centered on worldly things with a life centered on the Lord. We can remain in the world but not belonging to the world; otherwise, we will end up divided, torn apart in ourselves. Joy will never fully arrive, and we will face temptations to give up and return to the ways of the world.
Better yet: Let us belong to Christ! Completely and definitively.
Better yet: Let us belong to Christ! Completely and definitively.
Applied to Married Life:
Charles: Marriage is so simple: I give myself to you. That’s it. Nothing more! Why do we find it so hard to understand and live like this?
Jane: It’s self-love, without a doubt. Wanting to make ourselves the protagonists of our story. Establishing our own sense of justice, demanding our rights, satisfying our desires… In the end, all of this leads us to not give ourselves completely.
Charles: Yes, but then come the consequences, summed up in one word: rupture. Rupture within ourselves, rupture of the marriage, rupture of the family… When it could all be so simple: giving myself to you. That’s it.
Jane: That’s true, in theory so simple, but without belonging to Christ, impossible.
Charles: Exactly… That’s the key. Without belonging to Christ, I cannot give myself.
Jane: That’s the key.
Mother,
May we take the definitive leap to give ourselves to the Lord so we can take the ultimate step of giving ourselves to our spouse.
New wine, new marriage. Praise be to the Lord.
New wine, new marriage. Praise be to the Lord.