Gospel Mk 2:18-22

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

Reflection

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”

In the time of Jesus, the Jewish people fasted regularly as a sign of atonement for sins and mourning for the deceased. Jesus and His disciples were not sinning or mourning. They were busy with the joyful work of healing the sick and making the love of God known.

Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.

Jesus compared Himself to a joyful bridegroom and His disciples to happy guests at a wedding. Their spreading of the Good News was not a time for long faces; Jesus knew there would be time enough for sorrow and fasting when He was no longer with them.

No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

Jesus used these homey sayings to further emphasis that this was not the time for dark days of fasting, dressing in sack cloth and covering oneself in ashes. He had come to announce the joyful reality of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness for all people.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Luke 2:10