Gospel Luke 5:33-39
Then they said to him, “John's disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink.” Jesus said to them, “You cannot make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, ‘The old is good’.”

The message
The religious leaders aren’t impressed. In fact, they are annoyed. Jesus is having a party at the house of Levi, a tax collector, who has become one of his followers. And it is a very big party, with lots of eating and drinking, and probably music and dancing too. The celebration has spilled out onto the street, and everyone is having a great time.
The scribes and Pharisees look on in disgust. This man Jesus claims to be a good Jew, an upright person. Yet here he is not only hanging out with tax collectors and other notorious sinners, but drinking and carrousing and merry-making as well. It’s completely unacceptable behaviour, they think, and such a contrast to John the Baptist and his followers, who fast and pray and behave like good religious people should.
So they challenge Jesus, and ask him straight out to explain himself. But Jesus challenges them right back. You don’t expect guests to fast at a wedding while the bridegroom is still amongst them, he says. And he uses a parable to make his point. No one would patch an old garment with cloth from a new one. Or put new wine into old wineskins.

The lesson
When change occurs, it can be very challenging. We are used to seeing and doing things in a certain way, we have an established pattern of behaviour, all seems settled and predictable, and then something happens and our world is thrown out of kilter. It upsets us and we have to try to adjust.
Change can be frightening too. When you are accustomed to something, and then it is questioned or challenged or looks like it’s about to collapse, it can be really scary. It can seem like everything is falling apart.
That is how many people felt when the global economy crashed a couple of years ago, and suddenly things went from boom to burst. It’s like how many Catholics feel at the moment. The Church they grew up in which seemed so strong and certain now appears to be in turmoil and unsteady, even collapsing.
It’s kind of like the scribes and the Pharisees in the Gospel story. They were upset and dismayed by what they saw Jesus doing; it didn’t fit in with how they understood God and religion; it felt like everything they stood for was being threatened.
But Jesus challenged them to let go of the old ways of doing and seeing things which were no longer working. He called them to a new way of thinking. This time of crisis in our church challenges us to fresh thinking also. Sometimes change is not only good but necessary.

The challenge
A time of crisis and upheavel is never easy. The temptation can be to try to cling to what we know best and are most comfortable with. We may believe or be told that if we prayed more and fasted more we might be able to bring back the Church of our childhood. But deep down we know that’s not going to happen.
We do need to fast and pray, but we are also called to trust that the Spirit is with the Church, and that we are being shaped towards a new way of being God’s people that we can only begin to imagine. It’s a challenge all of us are called to take up.

The Prayer
“Lord, help us to know your will. Help us to let go of the old and embrace new ways of being Church. Amen.”

--- Prayers for the Mass ---

Opening Prayer
God our Father,
Teach us to cherish the gifts that surround us.
Increase our faith in you
And bring our trust to its promised fulfilment
In the joy of your Kingdom.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord.

Prayer over the Gifts:
Lord, may the bread and cup we offer
Bring your Church the unity and peace they signify.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord

Concluding Prayer:
Gracious God,
You give us food from heaven and fulfil your promises to us.
By our sharing in this mystery,
Teach us to judge wisely the things of earth
and love the things of heaven.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.