Monday of Week 2 Year 2

Nowadays, people buy wine or alcoholic drinks in bottles or cans. However, at the time of Jesus, such means of storing wine or other liquids were either totally not available or too expensive or impractical to produce (after all, they did not have manufacturing facilities the way we do). Wine and other liquids would often be stored in clay jars or in containers made of animal skin. Animal skins were particularly convenient for transportation, as they could be carried easily, were lightweight, and would occupy less and less space as the liquid was consumed.  However, wineskins required proper care and would eventually need to be discarded, since after a period of use, the leather would become worn and could easily rupture, especially if filled with unfermented or "new" wine.

Jesus uses the image of wineskins to teach us that the "wineskins" of the Old Covenant had become incapable of receiving the Good News of salvation, since spiritual blindness had festered especially among the scribes and the Pharisees. This is because the Old Covenant had been hijacked and reduced to merely following laws, customs and traditions which were manipulated and multiplied at the whims and fancies of the scribes and Pharisees. This meant that a total transformation was necessary and this transformation was brought about by Jesus, who taught us new ways (the new wineskins) of connecting with God.

If we consider for a moment, we too could be in danger of being trapped in old wineskins, especially if we allow our souls to become like old, thin wineskins, weakened by sin and spiritual neglect. It is up to us to be vigilant and careful, so that we would be able to hear, receive, and act upon the Word of God. May we take full advantage of God's constant promptings and help in offering us his grace through the sacraments to repair what is broken, strengthen what is weak, and fortify what is healthy.