No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken 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 wineskins, and both are preserved."
Many proverbs in the Testament, both Old and New, are drawn from the ordinary sayings of the world's wisdom. But when Jesus uses one, it invites deeper reflection. Today's wisdom saying about new wine and old wineskins is a case in point.
We can suppose that anyone who raises grapes for wine knows to use fresh skins to hold fresh grape juice. Fermenting, especially in summer, can be lively, quick, and explosive. In a brittle container like a glass bottle, new wine needs an opening to exhale excessive gas, and corks do that admirably. They permit air to pass through in one direction, while preventing flies from entering from the other. We can suppose fresh wine skins allowed for expansion, while old, used wineskins had already been stretched and had lost their suppleness.
This Gospel proverb has been sounded often and loudly since the Second Vatican Council. It has been used to justify liturgical experimentation, bizarre notions of marriage and sexuality, and choices that defy common sense. But it's also used to encourage receptivity to better, deeper ways to understand the sources of our sin.
Recognizing that culture and language shape one's understanding and restrict one's choices, we can study the Gospels outside the box and discover deeper truths than our ancestors might have seen or known. We can discover that God's ever-ancient word is also ever-new.
Within the context of Saint Matthew's gospel, old Pharisaic wineskins simply exploded when filled with the teachings and life of Jesus. They could not understand what he was saying.
I once spoke to a group of catechumens in an OCIA class about the virtue and sacrament of penance. However, there was a group of older Catholics who monitored the sessions to make sure everything said was Orthodox. Those dear old souls had no idea what I meant by penance. While I spoke of awareness, responsibility, choices, freedom, and joy, they kept hearing "three our fathers and three hail marys." Their religious language had become brittle.
On another occasion, I had to inform an older priest that he could not call short prayers like, "Lord have mercy on me, a sinner." ejaculations.
"I'm sorry, Father. But that's not a religious word anymore!"
Times change; language changes.
Old truths can be put in new wine skins and grow more beautiful and more desirable.
But we have to pay attention, study, and keep our thinking supple and pliant to receive a wisdom which is ever ancient and ever new.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.