RBWords

  

     The tension between continuity and change is a familiar one in our church right now.  Pope Benedict was especially concerned with the subject of reform and continuity!  One might say that he was more concerned with continuity than reform because he felt that "reformers" were going too far and were, in an old saying, "throwing out the baby with the bath water."  Others of a more reform-minded bent felt that he was, in another old saying, "turning back the clock."  Pope Francis seems to be bringing a new look at this old problem but it's still a bit soon to tell.

 

     Jesus' image of the wine and wineskins is important for the guidance it might give to this image.  His position in the Gospel of Matthew is that the old way of living out the Jewish law had to be transformed if it was to survive.  The Pharisees had been criticizing him and his followers because they did not observe the law as exactly as they did.  They felt they were the true observers.  Jesus disagreed!  Arguing about which is more important - the skins or the wine - will get us nowhere, but if we want to preserve the wine, those skins can't be the old ones.  What will be the nature of the new skins is a matter of judgment.  The wine, whether new or old, can be contained in the new skins.  I'll be interested in seeing how Pope Francis approaches this subject in his daily preaching on this day!  AMEN