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How many times have you heard the gospel story we read today? Many would be the answer, no doubt. But what is the meaning Jesus is trying to convey to the listening scribes and Pharisees who had challenged the eating and drinking style of Jesus' disciples.
We know the parable. An old wineskin finds it most difficult to have fresh wine added to it after it has been "resting" quietly in the aging process. The skins easily burst with the wine spilled and ruined.
So, what is it that Jesus is saying? Well, it is a challenging parable that can be summed up in a few words: "can you accept change?" Yes, it is another one of Jesus' parables that teach us about how we are to live. Of course the wine that has rested in the wineskin for the prescribed time tastes good. But why do we purchase most of our wine in bottles? Can you imagine a large wine store "shelving" a supply of wineskins? Progress became involved in the wine business and we moved from the delicate skins holding aged wines to the present day bottles. We know, too, that today there is something like the wineskin used in cartons of wine! Another sign of progress ... although some would withhold an agreement in the latter example.
Again Jesus is challenging the Pharisees and scribes as well as ourselves to examine our own lives and how we accept change. Recall the days after Vatican II: countless arguments about adding a Saturday evening Mass that "counts" for Sunday; eating meat on Friday; "hearing" the Eucharistic liturgy in a native language for the first time; receiving Holy Communion from the hands of a layman and, "Oh, God help us," from the hands of a laywoman! Try and change these practices today! Imagine the reaction.
So, think a little about the issues that disturb your peace of mind and heart today. Are these issues that are being proposed for our welfare and happiness? In a few weeks we will begin using some different words in our responses to the liturgy. There will be the voices of dissatisfaction for sure.
What we will hear now is "the old is good." The true challenge is to discover why something newer might just be better. Better for what? Well, that is a part of the challenge. Read about what is being changed. Discover why a change is made.
This process applies not simply to old and newer ways of storing wine. Indeed we have to look at issues that impact our lives, our families, our communities our religions. Consider the issues of the current times: immigration, health care, racism, minority groups, the calls for equality from gay and lesbian men and women organizations, from those supporting the mosque in downtown NYC, the demands from the Tea Party members, and on and on.
Perhaps Jesus was teaching a very difficult point to humankind: we need to understand the movements of the hearts of all men and women. We have to attempt an understanding of where individuals are "coming from" when we find their cause a challenge to our lives.
