BEADS OF JOY 09-02-16
“Questions About Fasting”
©2016 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
My Friends,
Today’s Gospel: Luke 5:33-39 (Questions
About Fasting)
“And
they said to him, "The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and
so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink." And Jesus
said to them, "Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is
with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and
then they will fast in those days." He told them a parable also: "No
one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment; if he
does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And
no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst
the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine
must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires
new; for he says, `The old is good.'"Reflection:
Old wine skins, new wine skins? What? Why didn’t they just use bottles? LOL. Oh yea they didn’t have any back then. Wake up Jim (speaking to myself). Just remember I don’t have a format to my reflection, I literally come out of the gate after my prayer time and research time thrilled to be able to share Jesus. Sometimes I get goofy as you see. The whole message is about the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus don’t want us to discard the Old, nor does He want us to replace the Old; the purpose of the New is the fulfill the Old. Jesus is the new wine skins. Hello everybody! (me smiling at you)
Let us be eager to grow with the New Testament with an incredible foundation of the Old Testament. There are hidden secrets and tresures throughout the Old Testament that lead us to Jesus, the Old is vitally important to understand; yet in order to grow we need the New Testament to make us stronger as we deepen our faith. It is the New that will take us to eternity, into the arms of Jesus. I have learned through our small bible study how both the Old and the New Testaments have worked together to build our faith. How can you do Calculus without knowing basic addition or subtraction. That’s my analogy. The foundation and Glory of the New Testament is throughout the Old Testament. Knowing both make our faith breath-takingly magnificent. We all should cherish our bibles and really get to know them much better.
Think of this also. Through Jesus in the New Testament, the “new wine skins” are more flexible, they can handle far more pressure and stress than the old can. Jesus has opened our eyes in a calmer, more loving, more forging, more merciful way. The Old Testament was much harsher and stricter to the core of law. Jesus came not to replace the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus came to us in love and died to pay the price that needed to end that debt hanging over us from the Old Testament. That’s my understanding. I didn’t get that from any book or research. I got that through prayer. Jesus was sent by God to wipe the slate clean “the new wine skins” so that all of us can be saved. He died because He loves us that much. I hope that makes sense; in my heart and soul, it does. See you guys tomorrow.
LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!
Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
**(NEW DAILY FEATURE)
Today is Friday: We pray the Sorrowful Mysteries:
The Sorrowful Mysteries
1. Agony on the Garden (Sorrow for sin) –Matt 26:36-46
2. Scourging at the Pillar (Purity) –Mark 15:1-16
3. Crowning with Thorns (Moral Courage) –Matt 27:27-31
4. Carrying of the Cross (Patience) –Mark 15:20-22
5. The Crucifixion (Perseverance) –Luke 23:33-46
Thank you Lord for loving us so much…
Rosary Man Jim’s Sorrowful Reflection: http://beads-of-joy-blog.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-sorrowful-mysteries_11.html
FRIDAY’S I share this meditation I wrote back in 2010. Here I share my own personal insight and experience, as I journey with our Lady from station to station.
Many Franciscan groups around the world use this for their own group gathering while they meditate the Stations with our Lady. http://beads-of-joy-blog.blogspot.com/2010/03/marys-way-of-cross.html It is unique and emotionally very moving as you move from station to station… From my heart to yours.
