When the bride groom is taken from them, they will fast.

 

22nd Friday in ordinary time. Luke 5: 33-39.

“When the bride groom is taken from them, they will fast.”

Are you kidding me, Did Christ who always prayed and taught His disciples to do so just defend them for not offering prayers and fasting like the disciples of the Pharisees? Of course not. Rather He’s bringing our attention to the importance of being sensitive to the demands of the present time we find ourselves in.

 Being sensitive to our “now". Just like ‘old wine’ as he further said ‘should be put in old wine skin, and a new wine in a new skin, because if old wine is put in new skin, it will burst, the wine will spill and both will be lost’, so also old ways may not prosper in a new era. It will be funny to decide to travel a far distance on a camel back when there are cars, a camel was prominent in its time but not now. Jesus Represents new era, when holiness is not measured by fasting and prayer but by love of God and neighbour. When we don’t need the blood of rams to appease Yahweh’s wrath but Can confidently call him Father because Christ’s ultimate sacrifice at Calvary has bridged the gulf. In Christ, we’re called to carry on the faith according to the emergence of our time. For example using the mass media, which has gained a massive attention in our generation to preach Christ and affect lives positively rather than just condemn it as the devils tool of leading souls astray. The Holy Mother Church obliging her children to follow The Holy Mass online from the seclusion of their homes during the climax of the corona virus pandemic did not make her less holy but portrays her sensitivity to the demands of the time. We are called to do likewise not just in spreading the Gospel but in all aspects of our lives. So when next you face a deterring challenge, instead of giving up or ruining it with a ‘this is how it is normally done’ attitude, ask your self; “ How best can I do this in the present situation ?” Note: The message or main content of the action doesn’t change, rather the approach changes according to the needs of ‘now’.

Prayer: Dear Holy Spirit, keep me open to your promptings that following your lead I may always do what I ought to do now in the right way.

OLIVIA MARY, OP

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