Saturday 4th July Saturday Saint Elizabeth of Portugal Optional Memorial
Gospel – Matthew 9:14-17
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “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.
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. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
The Gospel of the Lord
The Mass intention is for Ann McGorary RIP
Reflection:
In Matthew’s Gospel we see, Jesus’ response showed a concern for both the old and the new. He was anxious that the old cloak not be torn more than previously, and that the old wineskins not be ruined.
At the same time, he recognized that there was indeed new unshrunken material and new wine, both of which had to be accommodated. After all, Matthew saw Jesus’ new approach to prophetic tradition and to the Torah as fulfilling them both.
Fasting and other traditional acts of piety have value to the extent that they challenge, focus and energise a life of compassion: what God wants is mercy, not sacrifice.
- How do you show God Mercy?
- How doe you show God’s Mercy to your family, friends and those you find it hard to get on with?
Fr John