06/09/2024

For a change, this morning the Pharisees and Scribes are not trying to be subtle. They ask the direct question and Jesus becomes subtle in his answer.

The old cloak cannot be repaired by using a piece from the new. The implication being that his revelation has to be accepted as something that replaces the old. It does not address each failure in the fabric of the old  "hole by hole" but completely replaces it with a new garment.

Similarly the "new wine" which he is "to tread out" from the "vine of his own body" needs a completely new container otherwise it will all be lost.

So now we have some more seeds of what is to become the discord of the very early Church again sown by the very words of Our Lord himself.

On the one hand Jesus tells us that he did not come to "abolish the Law but to complete it" and today's answer to an, on this occasion,  honest question can be understood as quite the opposite. 

St Paul was completely single-minded in his pursuit of his mission received directly from the Risen Lord. He could not value any human critical opinion about God's revelation. It is easy to see why he was so hated by his fellow Jews and a convincing witness for the Gentiles.

The Early Church Fathers devoted much of their time to trawling through the Old Testament for texts which pointed to the Messiah and today's Churches all maintain the continuity of  Revelation by teaching both Testaments. 

The words of today's Gospel, however, emphasise a break with the past as do the main events of Jesus' life on Earth together with the words of the Last Supper which completely shatter the Old Testament's concept of  IAMIAM.

Dear Lord, I think of you in terms of love which  I can only know as a human being. You know that I have always been bothered by the killing that was perpetrated in Your name in the Old Testament and which has been continued during the course of centuries since Your Resurrection, which tells us that we have to continually rethink our relationship with You, FatherSonHolySpirit. You know that the Jews of today have never rejected the Scribes and Pharisees of your day who were determined to refuse the message of Jesus. The terrible camps of the German war machine have created for us a reluctance to think any thought that would prompt an outcry "Antisemitism". But you are Truth and guard us from sin by your Love which is for all that you have created for it is "good". My sin comes only from my own pride and greed which only if all humans confess to You and seek forgiveness for will begin to help us to find peace on Earth and become closer to your "true image and likeness", Jesus of Nazareth. May my Spiritual Self not be subservient to my body and the prayers of my heart join those of Mary, Angels and Saints in praise of you and in clasping your Merciful Resurrection reveal the truth of being to all who are in need of your Mercy. There are still many Sauls who need to be stopped by the open show of your power. Mass slaughter of your beloved created humans can never be a good thing by whoever does it. Help me to become sinless that I may hold your Love in my heart and complete my days with integrity of body, mind and spirit. Let me become truly the human person that I have been created to be. Amen