Fresh Wineskins

7/2/2016

Step #1: Lectio / Read

Matthew 9:14-17

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,
for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.
Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Step #2: Meditatio / Meditate

I remember right after my senior year of high school taking a trip to Australia for World Youth Day. When we stepped off the plane, on a Saturday morning, after spending 20+ hours in 3 different planes and losing 16 hours in a time change after leaving Chicago very early Thursday morning, there were a whole slew of thoughts running around in our heads. After a good day of checking into our hotel, getting yelled at by some other people in the hotel because were being loud, taking a nap, exploring the city a bit, and having an opening Mass with the Bishop who was traveling with us, we journeyed to the tallest building in Sydney, which is a beautiful tower that has a circular and slowly rotating restaurant up top. Looking out from that dinner, where I ate kangaroo for the first time (I promise it's normal there), I could see all of Sydney, and I was amazed.

One distinct thought I remember having then was about the newness of that moment. Being in Sydney was new. Eating in a restaurant this high up in the air was pretty new. Eating kangaroo was totally new. Most of the people I was with were new to me. It was all new, and it was all exciting.

Sometimes, new things are difficult for us. Change can be scary or difficult for us; we sometimes push back against change because we like how things were, or because it's just hard for us. In the summer time, many of us are faced with a lot of change - people are going away to college or coming home from there. We might be starting a new school, meeting new friends, going to a new camp, or doing any number of new things.

In today's Gospel, Jesus talks to us about newness. For the people at that time, Jesus was radically new. He asked His disciples to feast when He was with them because He knew the reality that with Him they were with THE Bridegroom, the One our hearts long for, the One who fulfills our desires. When we encounter something that is new and good, we need to put it in the proper context, or wineskins, in order to properly care for it. If we put new wine into old wineskins, the skins will burst and we'll lose both the wine and the skins; that's the analogy, and it's important for our own lives.

Maybe you're going through a change in your state of life right now. Maybe you're making new friends. Maybe, for many of us, summer is a time when we're experiencing new things in our faith and our relationship with God.

In any of those situations where something is new, if we want to understand what God is doing we have to be willing to let Him teach us the context for all of it. God wants to put the proper wineskins around whatever we're dealing with that the skin won't burst and it will all make sense, we just have to understand that He is the wine that we truly desire, that He is the Bridegroom for whom our hearts long.

Step #3: Oratio / Pray

"People do not put new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.
Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

What is going on in my heart and life right now that feels new or different? What excites me, what worries me, etc.? Have I given those things over to God?

How has God done new things in my life in the last few weeks, months, years?

What newness does God want to show to me today that He has in store for my future?

Step #4: Contemplatio / Contemplate

Thank you, Lord, for what you're doing in my life.

Lord, give me new wine and new wineskins.

God, You are the One I long for.

For the Rest OF Your Day...

Spend some time reflecting on what good, exciting new things God has done in your life recently, big and small. Thank Him for them, and reflect on how He has taught you and challenged you recently.

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Today's prayer was prepared by Jason Theobald.

CARPE VERBUM