Gospel

‘When the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast.’
Luke 5:33–39

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.” ’

The Gospel of the Lord

New marriage

Christ refers to the Bridegroom, and inevitably He speaks directly to us married couples. Christ is the Bridegroom who comes to meet us and who wants to enter into our married life. Marriage is not simply two people trying to love one another better; it is a vocation in which Christ wants to make Himself present and renew our love.
Many times we want to live a new marriage with an old heart. We want our husband to change, our circumstances to change, for there to be more dialogue, more affection, more patience… but we continue reacting in the same way: defending our own criteria, holding on to our hurts, making demands of the other or trying to change them.
The new wine is Christ. And we are the new wineskins when we allow Him to transform us.
It is not a matter of putting a small Christian “patch” over the way we live our marriage. It is not enough to pray a little more or go to Mass on Sundays and then continue living from selfishness, demands or self-sufficiency.
Christ wants to give us a new love: a love capable of forgiving, of giving oneself, of waiting, of understanding and of seeking the good of the other before our own, and this requires a new heart.
Let us ask the Lord today not to try to mend our marriage with little patches, but to grant us «new wineskins»: a heart capable of receiving the new wine of His Love. Because when Christ renews our heart, our marriage also begins to be renewed.

Applied to Married Life:

Nicholas: I don’t know what else to do with you. We talk and we always end up the same way.
Sophie: Because you don’t listen to me either. You only want me to do things your way.
Nicholas: It’s just that you seem not to care about anything I do!
Sophie: It’s not that I don’t care. But I’m tired of feeling that, whatever I do, it’s never enough for you.
There was silence. They were both hurt. They had been trying to resolve that situation for some time, but every conversation ended up opening a new wound.
Nicholas: Perhaps we are trying to fix our marriage by our own strength.
Sophie: And what do you want us to do?
Nicholas: I don’t know… But today, in prayer, the Gospel came to me: «New wine, new wineskins». Perhaps we are asking for a new love, but we are still the same as always.
Sophie: It could be. I’ve been asking Jesus for days to change you.
Nicholas: Hehe! And I’ve been asking Him for days to change you.
Sophie: Then perhaps we are the ones who need to change.
Nicholas: Well, perhaps it is better to say that… we are the ones who need to allow Jesus to change us.
Sophie: You’re right, Nicholas! Then, in our conjugal prayer, let’s ask the Lord to change our hearts.

Mother,
Help us to allow Your Son to transform our hearts so that we may receive Him as You did. Praised be the Lord!

Gospel

‘I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom.’
Luke 22:24-30

At that time: A dispute also arose among the Apostles, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And Jesus said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
  ‘You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’

The Gospel of the Lord

The Lord surprises us.

How often the Lord surprises us! And how often He would like to surprise us, but we do not let Him! The initiative comes from Him, but we need to allow ourselves to be transformed by His grace. From God we receive the call, the vocation, the Faith, the strength, the grace… but it is our task to welcome them and live them. When we abandon ourselves to Him and set aside our own ways of thinking, He acts and the impossible becomes possible. Then we can say, like Peter: Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man. Because we see His power and greatness and our nothingness. And, as He did with Peter, He also says to us: do not be afraid, take courage, get up, I am with you. In our marriage too, we must allow the Lord to get into our boat, and we will obtain a miraculous catch, something unimaginable: a holy marriage. God always fills us to overflowing. Blessed be God and blessed be the Sacrament of Matrimony

Applied to Married Life:

Margaret and Jonathan have been distant from one another for several days. Every time they try to talk about a problem concerning the children, they end up arguing.
Jonathan: We always end up like this. There’s no way of talking to you.
Margaret: You never listen to me.
They are both tired. They both believe they are right. They both feel that they have already done everything they possibly can.
After a few minutes of silence, Margaret remembers the scene of the miraculous catch of fish and thinks: «Perhaps we are trying to keep our marriage going by our own strength. Perhaps the Lord is asking me to do something that, right now, I do not want to do».
Margaret: I don’t feel like talking right now. I’m hurt and I still think I’m right. But I don’t want things to end like this. Could we ask the Lord to get into our boat?
Jonathan: I don’t feel like it either, and I’m hurt too. And I think you don’t understand how I feel. But… perhaps you’re right. We are trying to solve everything on our own. Let’s turn to prayer, shall we?
Margaret: Lord, we don’t know how to get out of this. We have cast our nets and caught nothing. But if You tell us where to cast them, we want to trust in You.
Jonathan: Margaret, forgive me. Before trying to make you understand my point of view, I should have tried to understand your heart.
Margaret: And you forgive me too. I was more concerned with defending myself than with loving you.
The problem does not magically disappear that night. But something has changed: they have allowed the Lord into their boat. And where before there was only weariness, reproaches and helplessness, a new grace begins to appear: humility, forgiveness and hope. ‎

Mary,
Our Mother. Teach us to live alongside Jesus at every moment. Blessed are you, Mother

Gospel

‘I must preach to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.’
Luke 4:38-44

At that time: Jesus arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.
  Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
  And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.’ And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

The Gospel of the Lord

Everything as You Would, Lord.

Dear Lord, what a great gift You have given us, impossible to thank You for sufficiently. By becoming man, You have not only redeemed us and opened the gates of Heaven, but You also teach us how to live.
We only have to listen to You. In silence. Attentive to what You want to tell us. And then put it into practice.
In this Gospel we see You giving Your life. Giving every moment of Your day to others. With one key aspect: sustained by prayer, seeking to do the Father’s will on every occasion. Helping, evangelising, giving Yourself… Without considering Your tiredness, without looking to see whether people returned the favour. Without looking at Yourself. Looking only to the Father and to our neighbour.
Lord, may I give myself to my spouse in this way. Without looking at myself. Without keeping score. Without expecting anything in return. Turning away from my own ways of thinking. Seeking only to do Your Will. Doing everything as You would do it.
Help me to forget myself, to look only to You and to dedicate myself solely to giving myself on every occasion, welcoming everything with Your love. To love as You would love.
Jesus, help me to persevere. I will do my part: prayer, the sacraments, formation and acts of love. You will do the rest.
A thousand thanks, Lord, for giving me the grace to achieve this.

Applied to Married Life:

Luke: Louise, forgive me. In my prayer I realised that yesterday I was very focused on myself, hardly putting myself in your shoes at all. And that made me more irritable, and I spoke badly to you. Forgive me.
Louise: Thank you so much, Luke. I give great thanks to God for what He is doing in our hearts. We used to experience many situations like that, but we didn’t realise what was happening and blamed each other. Without prayer, God cannot give us His light; He cannot guide us.
Luke: Without a doubt. Without prayer, it is inevitable that I see life only from my own perspective. And I deceive myself into thinking that I am right. Without God’s light, I am walking in darkness. And in prayer, when I am silent and listen to Him, God guides me.
Louise: Yes, and He shows me my selfishness, my attachments… so that, from there, I can set myself concrete tasks to free myself from these disordered attachments and grow in virtue and love.
Luke: It is true that it is difficult. Especially at first, what I found hardest was persevering in prayer and remembering to keep working on those tasks. And when I didn’t do it, I would return to the hell of seeing everything in a negative light. But by persevering, God is able to do His work in our hearts, and it is a liberation. How great the Lord is!

Mother,
Please help us to persevere in prayer and on the path of purification, so that Your Son may teach us to love. Blessed and praised be God!