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| “Blessing Christ and Praying Virgin” by Master of Flémalle, c. 1424 |
Commentary:
Reading 1: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Commentary on 1 Cor 4:1-5
This selection is part of St. Paul’s pre-oration regarding the need for unity in the church in Corinth. In this concluding section, the apostle calls upon the community to be faithful to the teachings passed on to it. He speaks of Christian wisdom with an exhortation to the community not to pass judgment on their leaders. He summarizes his thought with the statement: "Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." The words St. Paul uses to describe the roles are, in the first instance: “servants of Christ,” hypēretēs, a word that designated rowers on the lowest rank of a galley, later coming to mean assistant or helper. The word “stewards” (or managers) was oikonomos, a name given to servants put in charge of their master’s property.
He goes on to exhort them not to pass judgment upon each other, but rather to follow his own example of being nonjudgmental, even about his own actions. He concludes by reminding them that, at the “appointed time” (referring to the eschaton), the Lord will reveal all motives of the human heart and judgment will be passed.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 37:3-4, 5-6, 27-28, 39-40
R. (39a) The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Commentary on Ps 37:3-4, 5-6, 27-28, 39-40
Psalm 37, a lament, continues the plea to be faithful to God and remain steadfast in the time of adversity. The psalmist adds a call for repentance, a return to righteousness. Failure to do so brings death. But those who take refuge in the Lord, and remain steadfast in their faith, God saves.
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Gospel: Luke 5:33-39
Commentary on Lk 5:33-39
In this exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees we see the liberal use of metaphors to describe a new relationship. There is a new covenant but it is related to the old. The bridal metaphor clearly establishes a relationship between God and man, different than that expressed in the Hebrew tradition. God and man are in a love relationship as opposed to God being superior to man and man subservient to God.
The Lord uses the metaphors of the new and old cloth and the new and old wine skins to illustrate that this Gospel message cannot be grafted on to Mosaic Law but it becomes something entirely new. Attempting to hold both views is not possible; it will destroy both. (It is likely that St. Luke actually rewrote the new vs. old cloth parable also found in St. Mark’s Gospel - Mark 2:19ff.)
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Reflection:
“The old is good.” St. Luke sees the difficulty many members of his audience, especially the Pharisees, are having in accepting the idea that Christ came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. They have had the “old wine” of these traditions and beliefs for their entire lives, and the traditions they inherited were passed down from generation upon generation, during which time they gained such rigidity of form and substance that they seemed indestructible.
The great irony is that it was for that very purpose God sent his Son into the world. The people to whom God had revealed himself in the signs and wonders in the age of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the great Exodus facilitated by Moses, had adopted traditions and they had taken upon themselves a life of their own. The acts themselves had become the object of worship, rather than God at whom they all pointed.
Through the ages God had sought to change this, to reveal himself and his will by sending the prophets: Jeremiah, Isaiah, Hosea and all those great instruments of God. They cried out to the people, telling them, among other things, that God did not want sacrifices and holocaust. His intention was not to smell the burning flesh of the sacrificial altar. His desire was the conversion of heart (see especially Psalm 51:18-19). He called to them to love each other and in doing so love him all the more. But the old wine was good.
The saying of Jesus about the old and new wineskins has a lesson for us as well. We must never become so rooted in our personal traditions that we fail to see what the Holy Spirit does in our midst. God calls us to constant conversion. That means change, and change is always difficult. The old wine, the wine to which we have become accustomed always tastes good. The new wine of conversion needs some getting used to.
Today our prayer is this, that even as we savor the old wine that is good, we are constantly ready to accept the new wine of conversion, inviting us deeper into the will of God and his call to us.
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “Blessing Christ and Praying Virgin” by Master of Flémalle, c. 1424
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