Gospel of the day
Luke 5:33-39
‘When the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast.’
At that time: The Pharisees and scribes said to him, ‘The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.’ He also told them a parable: ‘No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on 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. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, “The old is good.”
Good Fruit
Sometimes we offer fasting or sacrifices, but our heart is not joyful—because we are not doing it out of love—and then that sacrifice bears no fruit.
In this passage, the Lord tells us that if He is present, He makes all things new. And if we unite our sacrifice with Him, to offer it to the Father, then it will bear much fruit. He makes all things new: new wine in new wineskins.
If those sacrifices are made with love, He will work in our hearts and in our marriage. Because when we unite them to Him, grace enters through our sacrament.
How many times do I fast but fail to love in my marriage, or in my daily life? Let us do everything for Him, with Him, and in Him, so that our acts of offering may bear abundant fruit.
Applied to Married Life
Berioska: Hi Carlos, how are you?
Carlos: Well, pretty tired from work.
Berioska: Oh… okay, sorry, I’ll let you be—I’m going to go pray for a while.
Carlos: Wow, she doesn’t even bother to talk with me about the kind of day I’ve had. Why don’t we just chat a little?
But while praying, Berioska realises she should be present with Carlos. So, even though she is very tired, she offers her sacrifice united to the Lord.
Berioska: Darling, forgive me. How was your day? What would you like for dinner?
Carlos: Berioska, my love, with how tired you are, don’t worry about me. Let’s just have something simple…
And after preparing dinner and talking, they sat down to eat together and had a wonderful evening.
Carlos: Thank you, Berioska, because you help me see how the Lord’s Love overcomes tiredness—and everything.
Berioska: Thank you, because you help me see what truly matters.
Mother,
You united yourself to the Lord in His holy sacrifice, even to the extreme of suffering, in order to give us eternal life. Teach us to unite ourselves to Him as you did, to the very end, so that we may bear fruits of life.
Blessed and praised be the Lord!