Do something new

 

In St. Mark’s Gospel people come to Jesus and ask Him: “why do your disciples not fast?”  Everyone knew that the Pharisees fasted, as did the disciples of John.  They are curious about the fact that Jesus and His disciples do not fast.  Jesus doesn’t respond as they may have hoped He would.  Rather, Jesus uses the example of a wedding feast.

Jesus tells His listeners that as long as the bridegroom is at the reception, the guests will continue to celebrate this joyous occasion.  The time to fast will be when the bridegroom is no longer with them.

Jesus then uses the image of a cloak that is torn and needs to be patched.  He tells His listeners that anyone with sense would not use a new piece of material to patch the cloak.  Given the difference in the age of the cloths, it would simply make the tear worse.  Jesus then uses the image of wineskins.  He says that one should never put new wine into previously used wineskins because the skins would burst [Mark 2:18-22].

Fasting is a wonderful spiritual practice.  It helps to strengthen the will against disordered fleshly temptations and helps to bring purity to one’s soul.  But it needs to be pointed out that fasting is not an eternal reality.  One day, when we’re face-to-face with God in Heaven, there will no longer be any need to fast or do any form of penance.  But while on earth, we will struggle and fall and lose our way, and one of the best spiritual practices to help us return to Christ is prayer and fasting combined. 

Fasting becomes necessary “when the bridegroom is taken away.”  In other words, fasting is necessary when we sin and our union with Christ begins to fade.  It is then that the personal sacrifice of fasting helps open our hearts once again to our Lord.  This is especially true when habits of sin form and become deeply ingrained.  Fasting adds much power to our prayer and stretches our souls so as to be able to receive the “new wine” of God’s grace where we need it the most.

Maybe Jesus is inviting us to “do something new” rather than simply continuing to live out our old (and perhaps unhealthy) patterns.  I assume that all of us have at least one pattern in our life that we would like to change.  Take a moment and ask yourself: what is one small change I would like to make in my life?  How serious am I about making this change?  I’ll confess right here and now that I have always been woefully inadequate when it comes to fasting, even during Lent and Advent.  I usually fall back on the ”rule” of the Church that “for members of the Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal.”  I can’t even manage that!   It is one of my New Year’s resolutions for 2023—to observe the norm of the Church this Lent.

Change is not easy. It’s easy to make a New Year’s resolution.  However, it’s  much more difficult to keep that resolution.  We’ll see how it goes.

Lord, I open my heart to the new wine of grace that You wish to pour forth upon me. Help me to be properly disposed to this grace and to use every means necessary to become more open to You. Help me, especially, to commit to the wonderful spiritual practice of fasting. May this act of mortification in my life bear abundant fruit for Your Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You.