Word to the Wise
Friday, September 2, 2016 - Friday in the 22th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Cor 4:1-5 and Luke 5:33-39]"No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, "The old is good." [Luke]
I grew up with an appreciation of antique furniture. I really had no choice since a lot of the furniture in our home was inherited and had the status of heirlooms! It could mean a challenge in the case of certain four-poster beds with canopies that were designed for homes with higher ceilings, or dressers designed for larger bedrooms. But the furniture was not there for show. It was meant to be used every day. I also accompanied my mother and my sister at various times when they were antique-shopping and learned how to spot where something "new" had been added but painted to look as if it was an original part of the old.
The wine and wineskin image from today's gospel scripture brought the antique image to my mind because both images are in play at the current time. Younger clergy and university students nowadays display an appreciation for the "antique" in Catholic liturgy and devotion. The older it looks, the better! So older vestments and incense burners and candlesticks and ceremonies are receiving a kind of revival. We haven't gotten back to the old Dominican rite in Latin here yet, but I suspect it would be appreciated, at least for a little while, as a great liturgical celebration.
This phenomenon can be a puzzler to those of us who entered religious life or were ordained before, during or just after the Second Vatican Council. It seems more like going up into the attic and putting on grandparents' clothes to play "old times." However, one musn't question the sincerity of those who show the "antique" interest. No wineskin, new or old, lasts forever and there is a limit to how often any wineskin can continue to be used. It's the wine that counts, and the people who sleep in the antique bed that are important. Focusing too much on the skins and furniture may make us forget their purpose. The scribes and Pharisees heard this from Jesus. Do we hear it, too? AMEN
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