20240706 OLD AND NEW WINE IN DIFFERENT WINESKINS
06 July 2024, Saturday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Amos 9:11-15 |
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel
It is the Lord who speaks:
‘That day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David,
make good the gaps in it, restore its ruins
and rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
so that they can conquer the remnant of Edom
and all the nations that belonged to me.’
It is the Lord who speaks, and he will carry this out.
‘The days are coming now – it is the Lord who speaks –
when harvest will follow directly after ploughing,
the treading of grapes soon after sowing,
when the mountains will run with new wine
and the hills all flow with it.
I mean to restore the fortunes of my people Israel;
they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them,
plant vineyards and drink their wine,
dig gardens and eat their produce.
I will plant them in their own country,
never to be rooted up again
out of the land I have given them,
says the Lord, your God.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 84(85): 9,11-14 |
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
I will hear what the Lord God has to say,
a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people and his friends
and those who turn to him in their hearts.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:135 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let your face shine on your servant,
and teach me your decrees.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn10:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 9:14-17 |
When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast
John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.’
OLD AND NEW WINE IN DIFFERENT WINESKINS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [AMOS 9:11-15; PS 85:9, 11-14; MATT 9:14-17]
Today we are living in very challenging times, with both light and darkness present. On one hand, we are facing tremendous upheavals in culture, values, aspirations and different perspectives towards life; many of them secularistic, individualistic and materialistic. On the other hand, we have the benefits and also woes that come with an increasing affluent, technological and digital world. With the advent of Digital and Social Media, and now with the use of AI in research, study and communication, the Church must reconsider how we can minister to our flock and do the work of evangelization. This, then, is the theme of today’s scripture readings which are most appropriate for our reflection.
In the first reading, the Prophet Amos prophesied the restoration of the ruins of David. “On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David; I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old.” Indeed, He would “bring about the restoration of (his) people Israel; they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits.”
In our own times, the Church has gone through many struggles, within and without. More than ever, we are living in challenging times. In many places, Christianity is on the decline, or under some form of constraints in the work of evangelization because of political considerations. Others have freedom of worship, but Catholicism has difficulty penetrating the inhabitants on two counts – on one hand, because of secularism and the influence of the West, the people have become more materialistic, individualistic and relativistic, on the other hand, there are also many who are die-hards to their traditional native religions and view Christianity as a betrayal of the faith of their forefathers, their cultures and an alien religion.
In Singapore, we face a different set of challenges and opportunities. On one hand, many of our parishioners are influenced greatly by Western ideology, culture and values because many are educated in the West, or pick up ideas from the West through studies, social media, entertainment channels and the internet. This has weakened the traditional Catholic values which our forefathers tightly embraced. We have lost many of our young people as a consequence because they cannot reconcile Catholic values with their lifestyles. On the other hand, we have great opportunities for evangelization as well, because Singapore is primarily an English-speaking population and so communication is not a big obstacle. With modern technology and digital media, the possibility of reaching out is limitless. At the same time, we are flooded with immigrants who have come here for work or even to adopt Singapore as their home. There are opportunities to evangelize these people, who in turn will evangelize others on their return home.
In the gospel, the Lord challenges us to rethink and to remake ourselves if we are to be relevant to today’s time. The Scribes and Pharisees were insistent on the importance of fasting as a sign of religiosity. Jesus certainly was not against fasting because He Himself fasted for forty days in the desert whilst preparing for His mission. But in the mind of Jesus, fasting must be done not as a routine or simply as a discipline but the motivation and occasion must be appropriate. Fasting is a means to grow in holiness and also for the work of evangelization. Jesus, who alluded to Himself as the bridegroom, therefore made it inappropriate for the disciples or the people to fast. On the contrary, they should rejoice because Jesus was with them. It was not yet a time for fasting. This is why the Lord said, “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.” Indeed, the disciples will fast when the Lord is taken away from them at His passion, or when they sin against the Lord and their fellowmen, or when their hearts have become cold and rigid towards God.
Clearly, it means that we need to ask ourselves how relevant we are to the people we are ministering to or reaching out. We must go beyond the traditional means of helping people to connect with God through devotions, which of course remain important as part of our spirituality. But the modern generation needs greater connection both in the head and in the heart. On one hand, they want to know more, and they want to understand how the teachings of the gospel, especially the moral teachings of the Church on abortion, gender, and marriage could help them to live a more meaningful and fulfilling life. On the other hand, they want to feel loved, accepted, understood and be accompanied in their journey of life. They need to feel the presence and love of God personally in their lives if God were to be real to them.
In this context, the Lord reminds us that for us to reach out to this group of people, we need to use the right cloth to patch an old cloak, or the right wineskin to contain the wine. He said, “No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.” Indeed, we must be careful not to mismatch the way we present the Good News to our people today. What is theology? It is not so much about God but about our lives. Theology is trying to make sense of our life, which can only be understood in the context of the existence of God and His salvific plan for us. If we do not use the right language or symbols to connect with the existential needs of our young and modern generation, we will proclaim truths that do not resonate with them. This is the common complaint among the young people who have left our Church because they feel that the Church is irrelevant in their lives, that the teachings of the Church do not help them to live life to the fullest. On the contrary, they think that the gospel constrains them from living an authentic life.
Thus, it is of great importance, as the Lord exhorts us, to pour old wine into old wineskins and “new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” We need to consider how we can address our current generations, both old and young. Even our current older generation is different from our forefathers. They have been brought up in both the old and the new. They came from a generation where their parents were poor but over the years, many have made great progress through education, in their careers and businesses. They are more educated and yet still traditional in many ways. The younger generation, especially from the Millennials onwards, come at a time when Singapore is affluent. Most are brought up in one or two-child families, are well-educated, and raised in a computer and digital age. Their struggles, needs, expectations and aspirations are so different. Consequently, these two different sets of people require different approaches to ministering, formation and evangelizing.
Having said this, it is also important to consider that the Old and the New must also be integrated. It is not true that what is old is totally irrelevant. In fact, some of their values are timeless. On the other hand, not everything that is new is good. In truth, modern affluence, digital media, AI, technology are all double-edged swords. Without ethical guidelines, they can destroy humanity and the planet, earth. In the gospel, Jesus clarified, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.” (Mt 5:17f) At the end of the teaching on the parables, Jesus concluded in Matthew’s gospel by saying, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” (Mt 13:52)
Regardless, what is of paramount importance is not so much about the old and the new ways of doing things. It is about putting new life into what we are, or have been doing. We need to pour the new wine of the Spirit into those receptacles given to us. We need to take into consideration the structures of age and culture when helping our people to receive the Good News. It calls for inculturation, not just in terms of culture but in our modern lifestyles.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment