Word to the Wise
Saturday, July 6, 2024 - Saturday in the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
[Amos 9:11-15 and Matt 9:14-17]"No one patches an old cloak with a piece of shrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh winseskinsw, and both are preserved." [Matthew]
Jesus' words are spoken in response to a question from the disciples of John the Baptist, who, like the Pharisees, had adopted the practice of fasting as a regular religious practice, even though it was only required in the Mosaic Law for the Day of Atonement and also practiced at times of mourning. Jesus presents himself as something entirely new and the "tradition" of the Pharisees and John the Baptist were not appropriate for his mission.
The Gospel According to Luke [5:39] adds a line to the version in Matthew: "And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good.'"
I, and other priests of my acquaintance - especially those in campus ministry - have noticed the revival of pre-Vatican II patterns of piety such as the wearing of mantillas or veils on the part of women and a greater number of communicants going back to receiving communion on the tongue instead of in the hand. In more than one church I have seen kneelers placed at the front of the communion line to make it possible for communicants to kneel when receiving communion. Novenas and the rosary seem to have returned to piety as well - much of this among young Catholics. These are examples of something much broader. It cannot be classified as "nostalgia" since the younger ones were not alive when the council took place and did not experience the "Catholic culture" of pre-conciliar days. Obviously the older patterns are meeting some kind of need that isn't being met by the reforms of Vatican II. The nature of the pre-Vatican II liturgy rather fostered individual piety because the sacraments were celebrated in Latin [in the Western Church] and the congregation was mostly passive. Active participation was rare.
Jesus' image does not address the question of sewing old cloth onto new! How long can that patch last? Can there be a form of "new" cloth that will address the devotional needs of the present times? It has been said that the decrees of an ecumenical council take 100 years to be completely effective. Our Church is always a "work in progress!" The old Latin expression is Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda. Perhaps Pope Francis' efforts to move the church in the direction of "synodality" will yield some insights and new practices. Stay tuned!!! AMEN