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 (Mt 9:17)
Always a bit of confusion here, i confess. Homilies, to read for example on Sacred Space of the Irish Jesuits, refer to old Jewish practises not fitting into Christ's new message. A new paradigm. He didn't come to pat Israel on the back for a job well done, rather to clean ship and get mankind back on track. However, we are also reminded that improvements to the church can be seen as 'new wine' and thus, we must use our 'new skins' if we hope to contain them without risk of fracture, leakage or destruction; or, confusion leading to falling away from the church, and thus leading to doubt and even greater separation from God.
History is tricky. Looking back, was selling indulgences 'new wine'? It certainly burst a few wine skins. And papal infallibility? Is this too, 'new wine', a directive of God himself, spoken to free us from unhelpful rituals or bring us back into his fold? The Church's stance on so many ethical matters (divorce, contraception, sexuality) can seem like old wine skins unable or unwilling to take on new wine. Jesus himself never told us not to use contraception or that homosexuality was wrong, other people did. From old skins? These and other discussions of the Way indicate to me that new wineskins are always necessary, because otherwise we'd only ever be drinking old wine from old skins. The Pharisees probably thought very much the same! What was wrong with their old wine? How could they possibly want to drink a new vintage when the old had served them so well?
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 (Mt 9:15)
Standing in the presence of the teaching Christ and listening to the good news He brought was not the time to cling to old ways, especially when He had come to clean ship and put mankind back on the most direct way to God. And now, though He is with us in Spirit, He was taken away and we now are fasting as per His instruction. My confusion is, are we doing just that? Is the Christianity that Christ taught now reflected by Mother Church in Rome? Or are the Orthodox Churches closer? The Protestants? The televangelists? The Mormons? OK, maybe not, but still, we are merely men, standing a falling as our faith evolves. Yet how often do we continue with our man-made wineskins of our own vintages and cling to them as if no new vintage need come, just like the Pharisees Jesus was warning?
The answer? For myself, I think prayer and meditation, a chat with the Holy Spirit within, might keep the wineskins in production. New wine and new skin will require vigilance, flexibility, openness and grace for those taking up a new vintage and compassion for those unable to give up their old skins. Me thinks that the new wine of Christ is always with us, yet it is our ego, fear, insecurity, doubt, what have you, that is happy to carry around our familiar old wineskin on that journey to the Heart of the Love. Christianity has yet to be perfected: true love of God and all mankind, universal wisdom and loving-kindness, has yet to be won. We will still be needing new wineskins.
Deo gratias.
Always a bit of confusion here, i confess. Homilies, to read for example on Sacred Space of the Irish Jesuits, refer to old Jewish practises not fitting into Christ's new message. A new paradigm. He didn't come to pat Israel on the back for a job well done, rather to clean ship and get mankind back on track. However, we are also reminded that improvements to the church can be seen as 'new wine' and thus, we must use our 'new skins' if we hope to contain them without risk of fracture, leakage or destruction; or, confusion leading to falling away from the church, and thus leading to doubt and even greater separation from God.
History is tricky. Looking back, was selling indulgences 'new wine'? It certainly burst a few wine skins. And papal infallibility? Is this too, 'new wine', a directive of God himself, spoken to free us from unhelpful rituals or bring us back into his fold? The Church's stance on so many ethical matters (divorce, contraception, sexuality) can seem like old wine skins unable or unwilling to take on new wine. Jesus himself never told us not to use contraception or that homosexuality was wrong, other people did. From old skins? These and other discussions of the Way indicate to me that new wineskins are always necessary, because otherwise we'd only ever be drinking old wine from old skins. The Pharisees probably thought very much the same! What was wrong with their old wine? How could they possibly want to drink a new vintage when the old had served them so well?
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 (Mt 9:15)
Standing in the presence of the teaching Christ and listening to the good news He brought was not the time to cling to old ways, especially when He had come to clean ship and put mankind back on the most direct way to God. And now, though He is with us in Spirit, He was taken away and we now are fasting as per His instruction. My confusion is, are we doing just that? Is the Christianity that Christ taught now reflected by Mother Church in Rome? Or are the Orthodox Churches closer? The Protestants? The televangelists? The Mormons? OK, maybe not, but still, we are merely men, standing a falling as our faith evolves. Yet how often do we continue with our man-made wineskins of our own vintages and cling to them as if no new vintage need come, just like the Pharisees Jesus was warning?
The answer? For myself, I think prayer and meditation, a chat with the Holy Spirit within, might keep the wineskins in production. New wine and new skin will require vigilance, flexibility, openness and grace for those taking up a new vintage and compassion for those unable to give up their old skins. Me thinks that the new wine of Christ is always with us, yet it is our ego, fear, insecurity, doubt, what have you, that is happy to carry around our familiar old wineskin on that journey to the Heart of the Love. Christianity has yet to be perfected: true love of God and all mankind, universal wisdom and loving-kindness, has yet to be won. We will still be needing new wineskins.
Deo gratias.
No comments:
Post a Comment