Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
As I reflect on our nation as we celebrate our “independence” day, current events have encouraged me to re-evaluate what is meant by justice and how we might find peace and freedom for all people in our land. Today’s readings describe God’s desire to restore peace and justice. These worthy goals require a new way of thinking and living, so we can help bring God’s truth to rule our land.
In the first reading from Amos, God describes the plan for the restoration of Israel. God describes how the cities will be rebuilt. The land will bear abundantly and the “juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains.” There is a sense of renewal, and God’s healing and mercy is overflowing.
In the Responsorial Psalm, God speaks to the people of peace and justice. “The Lord himself will give his benefits.” God describes how kindness, truth, justice and peace will meet and truth will spring up from the earth. These are the gifts that God desires to shower on his people- all people.
Jesus tells the disciples in the gospel reading that they are called to “put new wine into fresh wineskins.” Trying to put new wine into old skins will result in the skins being ruined and the wines spilling out. The old containers are unable to hold the wine as it ferments and grow, and therefore new containers are needed that are supple and capable of change and growth.
These readings remind me that God desires peace, justice and truth for us today. God’s mercy and compassion is not limited to just a few, but is generous and intended for all. As I look around our country and our world, it is difficult to see peace and justice “kissing.” Jesus is calling us to become new wine skins for the wine of God’s truth. God desires peace for all people, and we are intended to be the instruments of that peace. Looking at the life and teachings of Jesus gives us a picture of how we are called to live. These are just a few aspects of our “new wineskins”: loving others- even our enemies, helping others- particularly those who are most vulnerable and in need, working for change without violence, seeking unity and equality for all people no matter their race, religion, ethnicity, gender or age, and allowing God’s love and compassion to be the primary motivation for everything we think, speak and do. When we allow God’s grace to transform us into new wineskins, then the wine of God’s peace and justice can grow and evolve within us and we can bring this blessing to our community and the world. The challenge is giving up our “old wineskins”- prejudice, judgment, hatred, fear, and greed, and allowing the grace of God to make us anew. Being remade to be new “vessels” for God requires recognition of our sinfulness and our realization that we need to change. Both of these are difficult, since it requires acknowledging our faults and how these sins have caused harm to others. Although painful, this is where the being made anew needs to begin. God’s mercy transforms us, and we become conduits of peace and justice.
Living in a land where there is justice, freedom, peace and equality for all is something that God desires. As we celebrate our “independence” day, may we choose to become “new wineskins” for God, so we can truly live in a country that is a land of the free for all people, and a home where we can bravely work towards peace and justice for all.
Loving Father, Jesus shows us how we are called to be peace makers and emissaries of justice and truth. Pour down Your Spirit on us, so we can become new wineskins to bring Your grace and love to all peoples and nations. We pray this through Christ our LORD. Amen.
Marylynn Herchline.