Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
In the time of Jesus, wine was stored in carefully prepared animal skins. As the wine fermented, the skins would stretch without bursting. But a wineskin couldn’t be used again because an old wineskin lost the ability to stretch. New wine required new skins.
So it is with the Kingdom of God. It requires new skins. Thus, for example, the disciples of Jesus didn't follow all mandates for fasting common at that time. The newness of being with Jesus was an occasion for feasting, not fasting.
The new wine of God’s reign cannot be contained in former things. The old ways of relating to the LORD and one another simply cannot contain the new wine of the Reign of God.
How does Jesus’ image of wine and wineskins speak to us, to our assumptions about how we are to live each day? Here's where things can get messy, even dangerous.
In what ways have we "tasted" this new wine? How has this new wine been "contained" in us? Are there any "old wineskins" into which we are trying to contain the new wine of Christ?
Today we honor the life and mission of Martin Luther King Jr., prophet of the new wine that is God’s Kingdom.
I vividly recall that during the ‘60s King’s message was hard to accept by those still enslaved by old ways of thinking, the old wine skins. Even the most ardent proponents of the Gospel thought King was moving too fast, that he ought to slow down.
Why not read MLK’s iconic and inspired Letter from a Birmingham Jail on his holiday? This prophetic work, rooted in the Gospel, is one of the most amazing and spirit-filled pieces of literature ever written in America. Through it “the Dreamer” has left us a timeless letter for countless generations to come.
New wine. New wineskins.
-Timothy J. Cronin