Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Jesus suggests in today’s gospel (Luke 5:33-39) that people don’t want to drink new wine if they’ve drunk the old, because they’ll consider the old to be good. It is curious that he says this, for we know ourselves that aged wines are often better (or at least more prized) than new wines. Companies with longevity carry more respect, aged cheeses taste more distinctive, aged leather can (if treated correctly) become softer with age, and old wood demonstrates its durability. This gospel story is often read in our culture with a sense of, “Well, of course the new thing is better!” Betamax becomes VHS becomes LP becomes DVD becomes BlueRay becomes movies watchable from your very own computer. That is why it is good to think about all of the old, aged things that we prefer over the new. We can see that Jesus’ statement is about us.

Are we willing to accept Jesus’ words and strike out for the new wine, which may indeed taste inferior at first? Jesus is calling us to an entirely new way of being, and that means leaving behind even our previous likes and preferences, matching our tastes instead to Jesus’ own preferences. It is a difficult thing to which Jesus calls his disciples.

But maybe another more palatable way to say it is (just as we might tell children), “Be willing to try new things.” You just never know where the new thing might lead. Christians in Paul’s day were being called out to try on a very, very new thing: the idea that Jesus is no mere human who suffered a human death just like others. Rather, Jesus is the way we can see God, who is invisible. Children will point to the sky to indicate that God is “up there, out there” somewhere. We adults reconcile ourselves to God being faceless and less tangible than our family members and friends. And yet, Jesus as the “image” means that there is some way we can see even this invisible God.

Jesus, God who became human for our sakes some two thousand years ago, is also the one who created us eons ago. Strangely enough, though, that makes Jesus both old and (relatively) new – older (ageless even) than anything living on this earth, and yet bringing new life to us all. So maybe we can have it both ways – both the old and the new in appropriate and helpful ways – but only if we are willing to let our preferences for what is good be dictated by the author of life.

For it is also the case that aged wine may not necessarily be as delicate-tasting and pleasing to the senses as new wine. Old wine, as Jesus says, can turn bad. Aging wine changes in chemical composition and taste, becoming vinegar, or worse – and the chemical reactions burst the wineskins.

If we hold on to our old preferences like we hold on to old wine, we may also find that what seems to be good has now gone beyond its expiration date. Tension-relieving humor turned “old” becomes biting sarcasm; care of self turned “old” becomes selfishness; overlooking the little annoying things of life turned “old” becomes explosive rage. And so on. So, today, let us jump into the adventure of the new preferences Jesus wants to give us, even ones we don’t like at first, in favor of not becoming bursting and spoiled wineskins.

-Jana M. Bennett