Fresh Wineskins – Mark 2:18-22 Reflection
You may have a favorite pair of jeans. They are loose-fitting, stained, worn thin, and reserved for laborious chores. These jeans are sufficient if you find yourself alone with Jesus. In this case, what matters is that the thoughts in your mind are freshly adorned with love. However, suppose you are in a gathering of any form of community, including church or work. In that case, it is more appropriate to dress better since others see our physical body. One logical reason is that not doing so can distract them and cause them to lose focus on the Lord. Our body, mind, and soul must be as one, like fresh wineskins for new wine. In this way, we feel ready and presentable, knowing that we can be or do for “the other” with God.
The Pharisees Question Jesus by James Tissot.
The full-resolution painting and more details are available on the Brooklyn Museum website.
Additional Ordinary Reflections
Mark 2:18-22 – Scripture*
The Question about Fasting
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
21 “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
Additional Thoughts
Thank you for meditating on this Gospel and reading this Lectio Divina on Mark 2:18-22 Reflection – Fresh Wineskins.
Would you like to contribute related thoughts to these Lectio reflections on the Gospel readings? Since Lectio is not the only contemplative prayer style, others might appreciate these types of expressions in this ministry. Do you see God’s grandeur everywhere and unconditionally enjoy sharing the love of Christ that you have inside? Are you willing to be anonymous in what you would share? If so, email me.
Prayer for young families:
Lord, let the young families of our communities get to know your joy, peace, comfort, and love despite worldly distractions.
Attributions
*This site has permission to use the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) Bible Mark 2 passage.
The Immersive Prayer website follows the guidelines for image web use at the Brooklyn Museum and the Jewish Museum websites.
Page and discussion group on these Lectio Divina daily Gospel Readings.
Discussion group on St. John of the Cross.