Friday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s gospel, Jesus speaks of renewal. Specifically, he says you don’t tear a new cloak to patch an old cloak, because the patch won’t match the old cloak and the new cloak is damaged. Likewise, you don’t pour new wine into old wineskins, because the old wineskins will burst, and both wine and skins will be lost. Instead, you put new wine into new wineskins. When I think of these images in terms so Christ’s work in each of us, I think it speaks to our complete renewal in Christ. In other words, Jesus isn’t just slapping a bandage on us and calling it good. Instead, he is healing us completely, remaking us from the ground up, so to speak.
This is why the sacraments are so important for us. In Baptism, we are reborn, cleansed of original sin, and made the children of God. The other six sacraments continue and strengthen this work within us. The sacrament of Confirmation builds on Baptism so that we are equipped to proclaim the gospel according to our state in life. The sacraments of Marriage and Holy Orders equip us for our vocations. The Anointing of the Sick brings us healing of body and spirit when we are weakened by illness.
And then there are the two sacraments that we are encouraged strongly to receive often: Holy Communion and Reconciliation. Holy Communion feeds us and strengthens us, and brings us more fully each time we receive it into the Body of Christ. The sacrament of Reconciliation brings us forgiveness for our sins and healing from the effects of sin. Each of these renews us, so that each day as Christ pours the new wine of His life into us, he is pouring this wine into a new and renewed person.
Reflection by Fr. Aquinas Keusenkothen, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections