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In today’s Gospel from Mark, Jesus is questioned about His disciples who don’t fast like other spiritual leaders’ disciples (my mother would tell me I could do with a little more fasting, but for a completely different reason). His response, to me, seems to speak to why the Church started.
I’ve seen arguments against Christians because people say that if Jesus was still alive, He would continue practicing the Jewish religion, because that’s what He did while He was alive. Which might be true, because if He didn’t die than He wouldn’t have risen and if He didn’t die and rise for our sins then the majority of what we do as Christians wouldn’t make much sense.
However, He did die. And I think this reading is one of many that point to why a new Church was what Jesus intended. His followers weren’t going to be doing things the way they used to be done. Jesus was bringing new wine and needed a new wineskin to put it in.
But even though it is a new wine, it comes from the same roots as the old wine, and although it can be tempting to ignore the Old Testament, by learning more about what our faith originates, and the faith that Jesus lived, we can make our faith have more meaning and be more full. There are many traditions that we continue to do or were made new through Christ, so it is important to learn about those and be grateful that Jesus, the bridegroom, is with us now, especially in the Eucharist.
