“Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.”
Depending on circumstances, two given cousins may resemble each other very closely, or not at all. Today’s Gospel passage presents a contrast between Jesus and His cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus confirms the differences between Him and John, although these differences lead in the same direction.
The context of this contrast is a complaint lodged against Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees. They uphold the practice of fasting and prayer, but at the same time note that Jesus’ disciples don’t seem to engage in either.
Jesus responds with a metaphor and a parable. Consider the former. Jesus describes Himself as a bridegroom. We as modern Christians understand that by this metaphor Jesus is referring to Himself as the bridegroom of the Church, though that part of the metaphor would have been lost on His original hearers. But He continues by noting that when the bridegroom is taken away, then the wedding guests will fast.
The latter part of the metaphor can be applied in two ways. The first we can reflect on in terms of Jesus’ earthly life, and the time of His Passion and death during Holy Week. The second we can reflect on in terms of our own earthly lives as pilgrims on our way to Heaven: that is to say, as members of the Church Militant. We may only share fully in the wedding feast of the Lamb in Heaven, and so while still here below we fast and pray, hoping for complete union in Heaven with the Lord.
CCC 2055: the Decalogue summed up in one command to love CCC 1443-1445: reconciliation with the Church CCC 2842-2845: “as we forgive those who trespass against us”
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Today’s Responsorial Psalm comes from Psalm 95. The last section of Sunday’s Responsorial ties most directly to the rest of the day’s scriptures. The refrain of the Responsorial comes from this final section, and is a paraphrase of Psalm 95:7-8: “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
One notable feature of this sentence is that it speaks in the plural. Its command is to “harden not your hearts”, not “your heart”. Psalm 95 is a “community psalm”, to use a modern phrase. As so many of the psalms make clear, they were composed for liturgical worship, which by its nature is communal rather than individualistic.
This is good to remember when we as Christians are tempted to reduce our faith to something simply between “me and Jesus”. Just as in Jesus both the divine nature and human nature fully dwell, so living one’s faith in Jesus means both fully loving God, and fully loving one’s neighbor. As soon as we prefer one of these to the other, our faith is no longer focused squarely in Christ.
This leads us to ask why Psalm 95 exhorts us not to harden our hearts when we hear the Lord’s voice. What about the Lord’s voice might tempt us to do so? The answer is two-fold.
The first is that He commands us to love Him with faith. During the Exodus, God’s people demanded signs from God of His power. This is what Psalm 95 is referring to directly. In our own lives each of us sins when we lose faith in God’s providential love, in which all things—even sin and evil—work together for good, in the words of Saint Paul [Romans 8:28].
We are also tempted to harden our hearts when the Lord’s voice calls us to love our neighbor, especially in the form of forgiveness. Here the Responsorial Psalm ties together this Sunday’s other Scripture passages. The Second Reading explains God’s command that we love our neighbor. The First Reading and Gospel Reading focus on God’s command to love our neighbor by offering fraternal correction.
Offering fraternal correction can easily lead to the hardening of one’s heart. It can lead to cynicism and self-righteousness, or can be thwarted by our fear of the other’s response. But these threats to our spiritual peace don’t excuse us from the Lord’s command. One of the helpful points from today’s Gospel Reading is that Jesus situates our need to offer fraternal correction within the setting of the Church.
In only two passages in all the four Gospel accounts does the word “church” appear. In fact, these two passages are very close to each other: in chapters 16 and 18 of Matthew. In both, Jesus gives His Church the power “to bind and to loose”. In today’s passage, Jesus explains that He’s speaking about that power in the context of a brother’s sin.
Jesus is very clear about the steps that need to be taken. The first step is to speak directly with the sinner himself before discussing the matter with others. God demands that a sinner not be tried, convicted, or sentenced in absentia, because it’s the sinner’s welfare that is at stake as much as the welfare of the one who is sinned against. In our modern throw-away culture, we may not wish to love the criminal, but only the victim. Jesus is calling us to love both, as He Himself did on His Cross.
Here’s a practical suggestion for the next time you need to offer fraternal correction. If you struggle to offer fraternal correction, whether because your heart is fearful or callous, go first to God in the Sacrament of Confession. Admit there your own sinfulness to Him who is the Father of both you and the one whom you must correct. Being on the receiving end of Divine Mercy will help form you into a bearer of mercy. The experience will also help you approach your brother with a love akin to that which Jesus showed on the Cross. This is the love that effects communion within the Church, and that makes Jesus present in the midst of us.
Moses Striking Water from the Rock by Valerio Castello (1624–1659)
In spite of Peter’s knowledge and experience in fishing, and in spite of his having been up all night long, Peter and his fishing partners had caught absolutely nothing. Sometimes in what we do, also, we try our best, even at things we’ve done before and know a lot about, but things don’t work out for us. That’s a natural part of life in this fallen world.
But in today’s Gospel passage, we hear about Jesus coming along. Jesus was a carpenter, not a fisherman. Jesus tells Peter to put out the fishing boat into deep water (not the best place to catch fish), and after the sun had risen (not the best time). Peter starts out with a protest against Jesus’ idea, but then has second thoughts, and replies to Jesus, “But if you say so, I will…. I will lower the nets.”
Remember that God’s ways are not our ways. Sometimes, when we pray, we end up telling God what He should be doing, and when God talks to us, we dismiss His ideas. Instead, when Jesus asks us to do something for Him, we should listen. Then, through the grace of His sacraments, we should speak as Peter speaks, and say to Jesus, “But if you say so, I will….”
At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
Today’s Gospel passage, as it’s divided in modern editions of the Bible, consists of three paragraphs. As we reflect on the passage, we see a movement like the ripples in a pond. Jesus in His desire to serve moves outwards towards more and more people: from healing Simon’s mother-in-law, to healing those in the area “with various diseases”, to his departure for ministry in “the other towns”.
As such, we can reflect on this passage as an illustration of the “catholicity” of Jesus’ mission on earth, and so also the catholicity of His Church’s mission. In that latter regard, we ought to reflect on ourselves—each of us—as one member of that Christ who acts in today’s Gospel passage.
Each of us rightly gives thanks and praise to Jesus for being our “personal Lord and Savior”. But such a confession of faith should never move us to think that our Christian Faith is simply about “me and Jesus”. Jesus is the Lord and Savior—or at least, wishes to be—of every human person who ever has, does now, or ever will live. In turn, the salvation that Jesus offers me ought to root itself in my service to others, to bring that about.
Each of us at times might enjoy the prayerful solitude that Jesus entered in a deserted place at daybreak. Perhaps we would prefer that solitude. For most, though, the solitude serves our active roles within the mission of the Church.
Reflections on the Sacred Liturgy 