Gospel: January 20, 2025
January 20, 2025 (Monday)
2nd Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 2 (Green/Red)
St. Fabian, pope & martyr
St. Sebastian, martyr
Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4
You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.
1st Reading: Hebrews 5:1-10
Every high priest is taken from among mortals, and appointed, to be their representative before God, to offer gifts, and sacrifices for sin. He is able to understand the ignorant and erring, for he, himself, is subject to weakness. This is why he is bound to offer sacrifices, for his sins, as well as, for the sins of the people. Besides, one does not presume to take this dignity, but takes it only when called by God, as Aaron was. Nor did Christ become high priest in taking upon himself this dignity, but it was given to him, by the one who says: You are my son, I have begotten you today. And in another place: You are a priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek. Christ, in the days of his mortal life, offered his sacrifice with tears and cries. He prayed to him, who could save him from death, and he was heard, because of his humble submission. Although he was Son, he learned, through suffering, what obedience was, and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation, for those who obey him. This is how God proclaimed him Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Gospel: Mark 2:18-22
One day, when the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting, some people asked Jesus, “Why is it, that both the Pharisees and the disciples of John fast, but yours do not?” Jesus answered, “How can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the day will come, when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear away from the old cloth, making a worse tear. And no one puts new wine into old wine skins, for the wine would burst the skins, and then both the wine and the skins would be lost. But new wine, new skins!”
Reflection:
“No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat.”
How do the old and the new fit together? The key message of all the imagery from Christ is that they connect, but in an appropriate manner. When there is a refusal to adapt when needed, things will eventually break, and when we ride roughshod over tradition, there will be a gaping hole left in our devotion or activity. Why should the new wine burst old skins? It’s because the new wine has not finished its fermentation, and so the gas bursts the toughened, inflexible skins. The novelty needs to be held in a new container, in a new way, one that is capable of accommodating change. The bubbles or vitality of the new wine point to the Holy Spirit. Continuity and renewal are to be discerned through the Holy Spirit in the communion of the whole Body of Christ, the Church, so that we can understand what is of God and what is not. This is Synodality. May the graces we received at Baptism keep us always alert to the promptings of the Spirit, so that we can live our faith in a manner that is always fresh but also true to the faith of the Apostles.
