Gospel Reflection for The 15th day of January in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
Mark 2:18-22
18 And the disciples of John and the Pharisees used to fast; and they come and say to him: Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast; but thy disciples do not fast? 19 And Jesus saith to them: Can the children of the marriage fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them; and then they shall fast in those days.
21 No man seweth a piece of raw cloth to an old garment: otherwise the new piecing taketh away from the old, and there is made a greater rent. 22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: otherwise the wine will burst the bottles, and both the wine will be spilled, and the bottles will be lost. But new wine must be put into new bottles.
In today’s Gospel our Lord, once again, surprises those around Him by publicly disobeying the intricate traditions and rituals of Jewish Law. As the Church teaches, the Old Testament foreshadows the New and the New Testament explains the Old. Our fist reading today is a perfect example of this:
But Samuel said:
“Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the command of the LORD?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission than the fat of rams.
For a sin like divination is rebellion,
and presumption is the crime of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”
Elsewhere, our Lord quotes another Old Testament passage, “I desire Mercy, not sacrifice.” Throughout this month, we have been discussing how the religious Jews of the time had come to worship the words of the Law and the building that was the Temple, rather than the meaning behind those words and the God whose Temple it was. Jesus excoriates the religious officials, calling them “hypocrites” and “white-washed tombs.” These are the most harsh words our Lord had for anyone. Though, the psalmist was no less critical in today’s Psalm:
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
Today’s readings make clear that The Law was no longer sufficient even for God’s Chosen People. Only The Son of Man could take upon Himself the penalty for sin, which is death. We might almost say that for thousands of years the Jews had done penance not only for the sin of Adam, but all of his descendants and their ancestors whom Moses led out of Egypt. God gave them ten simple commandments that they rejected. In place of those, God gave them a Law so complex and onerous that few could keep it.
Jesus died, taking on Himself all the sins of all mankind past, present and future, and suffering the punishment due to all. The Law was fulfilled in Him. The old man, carrying the penalty of the original sin of our first parents was crucified and died. In His resurrection, the new man arose and through our Lord… living in Him as He lives in us through the Sacraments, we have been redeemed. The Law of Moses was heavy, and burdensome. Jesus tells us, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We are no longer old cloth or old wine skins. We are new. No longer are we slaves to the Law, but we have true freedom through Christ and His Church!
A Daily Catholic Devotional Reflections on the Daily Mass readings January-June, 2024. may be purchased as a .pdf directly from me using this link https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-daily-catholic-devotional-reflections.html or in paperback on Amazon amazon.com/dp/B0CPD1DC7Q
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.