22nd Week in Ordinary Time : Friday 2nd September 2022

We continue our walk with St Luke’s account of Jesus from Chapter 4 to Chapter 5. The nascent beginning of His ministry in Galilee continues with His calling of the disciples to the healing and miracles He will perform. His teachings and modus operandi will be “new” and yet “old”, as detailed in today’s Gospel text (Luke 5:33-39). This short verse contains three short parables viz. new “cloak”, new “wineskins”, and “the old wine”.

The traditional understanding is a challenge Jesus offers to all those present. Both images (cloak and wineskins) invite us to think “outside the box”. It is not to settle into a routine and become complacent and tepid in our faith. We must leave behind what St Paul called the “old self” to be new creatures in Christ (cf. Colossians 3:9-10). For the Pharisees, that would have meant that their strict formalism was a stumbling stone. For Matthew the Levi (cf. v.27-32), it was a call to forsake his sinful lifestyle.

Making a break from our old self (the old cloak and wineskins) is difficult. We have to take the step to move from our old ways to the new way of embracing Christ’s message, which is always challenging and ever new.

Today’s psalm echoes:

 “The salvation of the just comes from the Lord”.