Leave the Old Behind

Gospel Reflection for January 15, 2024

“The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to him 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.’” (Mk. 2:18-22 NABRE)

Jesus explains in today’s Gospel that He is starting something new, and the old ways of doing things will not fit into this new order. Though this meant something different for the Jews, who would no longer need to practice many of their long-held traditions, this message can be applied to our spiritual lives today.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and commit ourselves to following the Lord, we are called to leave our old selves behind. We will never be able to become fully made new if we hold onto the old! Our old selves, with its sinful ways, will tear away at the new and may even bring about its ruin, as Jesus illustrated by analogy in the Gospel passage today.

So, when we surrender our lives to God, we must strive to root out our vices and sins, and strive to grow in holiness and virtue. If we let any of our old selves stick around, it may hold us back and prevent us from being fully united to the Lord.

This could also be said of certain relationships in our lives. If we surround ourselves with people who do not support us in our faith, it may halt our spiritual progress, just as old cloth tears away at new cloth. We should thus be cautious of the relationships we choose to surround ourselves with.

May we leave behind the old, then, and allow Jesus to fully transform us and to make us into new creations!