“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” (Mk 2:18)

 

In today’s gospel, Jesus is questioned why his disciples don’t fast like the Pharisees and John’s disciples.  Jesus responds, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. (Mk 2:19) Jesus uses two examples to make his point: “No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak” and “no one pours new wine into old wineskins”.  In both images Jesus is saying that he and his teaching and the Way he is proposing cannot be judged by the old, traditional standards. 

 

Jesus has brought about a radical shift in the ways we are to relate to God and to each other.  The Way of Jesus is quite different. It is primarily interior rather than just exterior. It is ultimately rooted in relationships based on love, a love that always seeks the well-being of the other. If we judge what Jesus does by the old ways, we will have difficulties.

Deacon Joe Trevino

St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Church

Houston, TX