Lord, help me choose the right path so that I might follow you. Pour your new wine into my wineskin and make me new again. New again to be your dwelling place. New again to love you. New again to serve you by serving my neighbors and my enemies. Amen.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/070806.shtml
Yes, days are coming, says the LORD, when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the vintager, him who sows the seed; the juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains, and all the hills shall run with it. Amos 9: 13
I will hear what God proclaims;the LORD—for he proclaims peace to his people.Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,glory dwelling in our land. Psalm 85:9
“Pour new wine into fresh wineskins.” Matthew 9:17
Today we get a few lessons in change from Amos and Matthew. They are both trying to teach us that the new and the old don’t mix using some of the most symbolic poetry we encountered in all sections of the Bible.
Amos predicts that the plowman (overturning soil for a new crop) will overtake the reaper who is still working out in the fields harvesting the crops. The vintager (wine producer or merchant selling new wine) will overtake the farmer planting seeds that would grow into the grapes crushed to make the wine and the harvest possible.
This story and the parables in Matthew teach us of the unsuitability of attempting to combine the old and the new. Jesus' teaching is not a patching up of Judaism, nor can the gospel be contained within the limits of Mosaic law. Jesus sets a new standard.
The reading from Matthew precedes the stories of the synagogue official and the woman with the hemorrhages who approached Jesus and his promise of new life – not patching up the old life but launching a new model for life. The synagogue official does not care what it means to his official position; he turns in faith to Jesus to heal the daughter he loves. While the crowd presses all around Jesus, only one woman dares to try to touch him to be healed. The old (the dying daughter and the bleeding) are overtaken by their encounter with the Jesus who dwells in their land.
Amos also relates new images of the crucifixion (“the juice of the grapes shall drip down the mountain”) as he foretells of Jesus pouring out his blood for our salvation. Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus sets a new standard and expects us to follow him, in pursuit of the ideals needed to achieve that new standard. Around the obstacles we and society erect. Through the grace of God’s friendship. Supported by our community and our piety, study and action.
Action
These readings remind me of an “Easy Essay” by Peter Maurin called “A Radical Change.” It goes, in part: "I want a change,and a radical change.I want a changefrom an acquisitive societyto a functional society,from a society of go-gettersto a society of go-givers." How can you be a go-giver next week?
Perhaps by calling your member of Congress and asking them to welcome the stranger in final immigration reform laws still up for debate and hearings…
Perhaps by your offering of kindness to the stranger that you pass on the streets, on the Beltway or on the town.
Perhaps by refusing to pass the buck and expect someone else to take care of the poor but doing it yourself.
Perhaps by recharging your batteries at the Ultreya next Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary of Sorrows.
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