The Old or The New... Which Will You Choose?
Gospel Reflection 7/18/2025
“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)
Much can be interpreted from this Gospel passage. One point I would like to highlight is Jesus’ teaching that things which are new, will only be ruined if they are added to things which are old. Jesus uses analogies involving cloth and wineskins to demonstrate this, but what does His message mean?
One way in which this analogy can be understood is that when someone embraces the faith, accepts Jesus as their Savior, and becomes new through Him, that person must detach themselves from their old ways by leaving their old self and the ways of the world behind.
When someone seeks to follow Jesus, to grow in virtue and holiness, and to unite oneself fully to God, but has allowed certain sins or vices to remain in their lives, such a person will not be able to achieve true union with God. The old sins or vices will make it difficult for one to attain progress in their journey of faith. They will be hindered from having a genuine relationship with the Lord, as their sins will tear away at one’s faith through temptation, distraction, and division. Just as Jesus’ analogy described, the old will ruin the new.
As such, we are called to root out the ways of our old selves, as well as the ways of the world. If we recognize certain recurring sins or vices within our lives, may we act speedily and zealously through the help and strength of our Savior, to remove such evils from our lives. In doing so, our progress in the faith and in our relationship with the Lord will not be hindered, but will instead have the ability to flourish!! Thus, may we seek to unite ourselves more fully to Jesus by removing the old from our lives and by striving to be new by growing in virtue and holiness.
“You should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” (Eph. 4:22-24)