Feb 26^th, 2006

Eighth Sunday Ordinary Time

Hosea 2:14-20  Psalm: 103  2 Corinthians 3: 1-6 Mark 2 : 18 -22

During the last few days, the jet setters of his world, have been flying down to Rio De Janeiro, to Port of Spain in Trinidad - and until last year, to New Orleans in the States. It is the beginning of the Carnival. Carnival which means literally: “Good bye to Meat.”



In the olden observance of Lent, people would abstain from meat and other gastronomic delights for the whole period of 40 days. The idea of fasting is not a Christian monopoly, the Muslims fast during Ramzan, and the Jews have an equally austere penitential period. The Secular world of Dollars and Cents is quick to cash in on any religious devotion. Thousands, no millions of dollars will be spent on Costumes, Hotels, Air flights, sumptious meals and alcohol.

 First it was only a matter of the day before Ash Wednesday: Shrove Tuesday, which actually was a day to confess your sins, and be “Shriven” or forgiven - and you used the 40 days for penance and fasting. But Shrove Tuesday was displaced by Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, your last fling before 40 days of fasting and abstinence. And then from Mardi Gras, it became a whole Three days of festivities with Saturday and Sunday thrown in as well.

It is apropriate concidence that the Gospel for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary time speaks about Fasting ! And Jesus says, now is the time to Eat, Drink and be Merry. It is a time to celebrate because the Bridegroom is still with them. And Jesus concludes with “new wine should not be put into old wineskins” seems to be an apparent odd connection between Fasting and wineskins.

 But Jesus is referring to

a new order of things,

a new commandment of love,

a new way of looking at life and relationships with people,

a new set of standards by which people will be measured.

1. The new order of things is that the last will be first, the rich will be sent away empty, the hungry will be filled with good things - as Mary declared in the magnificat.

2. The New commandment of love meant that we were to love our enemies and do good to those who harmed you. Not to forgive just seven times, but to forgive continually and then some more.

3. The new way of looking at life and people was: if you wanted to save your life you had to pour it out for others. People were to be accepted for what they were and not by appearances. It would the poor and those on the fringes of society that were the favourites of God.

4. The new standard by which people were measured, was not by what they had, not by the largeness of their wallets and purses, but by the largeness of their heart.

Now this was the new wine, the new age inaugurated by the Lord. The commands of Moses, and the traditions of an eye for an eye were good. The 613 different laws according to the traditions of the Jewish people were good. The washing of the hands and the rubrics of ablutions when returning from the market were good. But they were the Old wine skins, and if you tried to put the new life and the new command of Jesus into these old wine skins, into these old traditions of living, this old philosophy of Jewish life, - they would not be able to contain and to withstand the effervescence, the new Joy, the new Enthusiasm of the Spirit of the Lord.

However, it wasn’t exactly a New Spirit, - it had been present from the Creation of the World,

it had been there to draw Abraham out of the Ur in the Caldees,

it had been there when Moses told Pharaoh, let my people go,

it was there when David danced in a loincloth before the Ark much to the embarrassment of his Wife who preferred to stay in the palace.

The Same Spirit is here today - but are we able to handle it, able to accept it, able to dance and rejoice in it. Most of the time, I prefer the Old wine skins of caution, of doing something that has been tried before and proved successful. I am scared to drink the New Wine which Jesus is giving me - the Wine that will be poured out on Calvary for the forgiveness of sins.

Story is told of a man, who was undergoing treatment for a whole set of psychological difficulties. Pornography, gambling, drinking etc. he had the treatment and he was getting better in the controlled situation. He began to feel free of the things that were trapping him.

Unfortunately, his supervisor had to be away for a weekend while he was still half way through the treatment. When the supervisor came back he found the man very discouraged and back to his old ways. When he inquired what happened, his patient said, “ I came out into the light, but I found the light too bright”

The new wine - just did not allow for the Old wineskin !