New

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/011915.cfm) reminds me that starting new is a lifestyle decision.

I read an article last year about a car journalist who fell in love with a new car model. It was an expensive car that could not be easily purchased by normal people. And he was saying that to be able to get the car, he would need to save a lot – meaning less eating out, less shopping, and less going out to party. Then he realized that if he really wants the car, to save for it means to have a lifestyle change.

This is what God tells us in today’s gospel. New wineskins and new wine.

A lot of people make new year’s resolutions. A lot want to change something, or start to do something. And with the visit of the Pope in our country, we want to change, we are inspired, and we want to improve the way we live our lives. However, this should not be just a desire or a plan. We need to move to make this a reality. We need to act to make this a reality. And we will know if it is a temporary solution or not based on how deep we get into doing it – if we’re doing things when it’s comfortable only or if it’s a lifestyle change altogether.

We cannot genuinely start new if our lifestyles won’t change. May we be inspired not to have a temporary change, but a permanent one.

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another chance to experience your love. Thank you for the reminder on how you want me to change. Lord, give me the desire and the grace to change for you. Help me have a lifestyle change so you can fully work in and through me. Help me become more and more like you as I experience your love and grace in my life. Amen.

Blessed week!

In Christ,

-g-

-----------------------------------

January 19, 2015

Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 311

Reading 1 Heb 5:1-10

Brothers and sisters:

Every high priest is taken from among men

and made their representative before God,

to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring,

for he himself is beset by weakness

and so, for this reason, must make sin offerings for himself

as well as for the people.

No one takes this honor upon himself

but only when called by God,

just as Aaron was.

In the same way,

it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest,

but rather the one who said to him:

You are my Son:

this day I have begotten you;

just as he says in another place,

You are a priest forever

according to the order of Melchizedek.

In the days when he was in the Flesh,

he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears

to the one who was able to save him from death,

and he was heard because of his reverence.

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;

and when he was made perfect,

he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4R.

(4b) You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand

till I make your enemies your footstool.”

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:

“Rule in the midst of your enemies.”

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

“Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;

before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.”

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:

“You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”

R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

Alleluia Heb 4:12

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The word of God is living and effective,

able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

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.”