We are commemorating today one of the truly great popes of our church. He is called the Great because he was known for his charity, his sense of justice, and his political diplomacy - but perhaps even more so, Saint Gregory was known for his devotion to Christ and the Church. He urged us to study, saying, "I beg you study and meditate each day the words of God, for in so doing you would come to know the heart of Jesus."
In the gospel today Jesus is having a meal with some of his disciples. and they appeared to be having a good time at a wedding. However, some onlookers were critical of what they saw, not so much of Jesus rather the action of his disciples. They asked why they were not fasting and offering prayers like the disciples of John the Baptist?
Jesus tried to explain that there would be occasions when fasting would be called for but not now. Instead, he proceeded to offer a teaching by telling them a parable about old wine, new skins.
Jesus used this story to demonstrate that there are old ways and new ways to look at life.
The old belongs with the old, the new belongs with the new. Jesus was about making things new but not everyone appreciated or understood his thinking.
Jesus was introducing something new, the Kingdom of God. It required an openness to change. Clinging to the old way of doing things satisfied some but apparently it did not satisfy Jesus’ disciples.
The exchange between Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees about old and new continues to be a discussion that is going on in the life of our church today. Can we mix the old and the new successfully or will we end up bursting the old wine skins as Jesus said happens when new wine is poured into old skins?
Saint Gregory in his lifetime labored to maintain the original core of Jesus’ teaching as found in the gospels and the New Testament letters while also addressing the new and contemporary issues of his day.
We too need to strive to remain rooted in the true essence of our faith: Christ in whom absolute fullness resides; and heed the invitation of Gregory the Great, who through his many letters guided and formed his flock: “Study, I beg you, and each day meditate on the words of your Creator,” he wrote. “Learn the heart of God in the words of God, so that you long more ardently for eternity.”
