"Beads of Joy" by RosaryManJim: They Will Fast

BEADS OF JOY 07-07-18

“They Will Fast”

My Friends,

Today’s Gospel:

Matthew 9:14-17 (The Question About Fasting)
“Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wine-skins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wine-skins, and so both are preserved."

Reflection:
Are you eager and excited and ready to grow Spiritually? In today’s Gospel Jesus opens our minds to the thought of “new wine-skins” so that we to maybe open and ready to receive the Holy Spirit. So, which came first the Fasting or the Feast? LOL... I know that has chicken/egg tone to it, sorry. It just sounded funny, so I thought I’d say it (ok type it). There was no reason to Fast while they were walking with Jesus. Isn’t that obvious, the disciples experienced a certain overwhelming, overflowing Joy… a living Blissfulness that words can’t describe. There was only a time to celebrate, learn and grow when you were with Him.

Let us go beyond the thoughts of just today’s gospel. In today’s gospel it was the disciples of John The Baptist (The end of the Old Testament) kind a, sort of like the old wine-skins… speaking to Jesus (The beginning of the New Testament) kind a, sort of like the new wine-skins… Old wine-skins cannot expand or grow anymore, neither can you patch an old wine skin. In order to grow you MUST have new wine-skins. That way as the wine ferments and excretes gases and expands the wine-skins can grow and expand when necessary and be open to the experience of new growth.

Our Spiritual lives are the same we must be like new wine-skins ready to expand and grow and be open to the new experiences of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Throughout our own journey we will experience times of fasting and feasting. Those times of fasting may include confession or suffering with an illness or even suffering with someone close to us who is suffering. It is through those times that we must draw our hearts ever so close to Jesus in prayer and trust.

It is our clinging to Him and loving Him with all our hearts; asking for His guidance and His love as we journey through some of these difficult moments in our lives, that He will give us the strength and wisdom to move forward. But we must keep in mind that these times of fasting will be followed by times of feasting and celebrating. God’s Plan for us is unlike anything we can ever possibly image. When Chrissy passed away and for some time following, that was my time for fasting. Now all this time and all this healing has passed, now it’s a time for feasting and celebrating; celebrating her life and the life our Lord has planned for me. I will honestly say, you don’t always know the seasons of time; it takes time, to figure them out, most of the time, through prayer and fasting, our Lord will help lead you.

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

Parable of the Wine Skins
(An explanation about wine-skins)

Pondering these thoughts today: Trust In Jesus and everything will fall into place for you in your life. In His Time, which by the way is always the Perfect Time. From my own experience of beginning again after such great sorrow, I have learned this: I thought last year, was the year we were all going to get back on our feet. Well, turns out last year still had remnants of the old wine-skins in it, so trying to patch it up and grow, was always a Fail for us. Turns out last year as a family, it was horrible and sad; we did all manage to get through it, but none of us, were able to move on. This year I thought again, maybe, just maybe. And ya know, little by little, this year is all new wine-skins. I am ready to begin a new life and so are the kids. So, now we are going to take to the next level and move forward, to make some even bigger changes. His Time is always the right time. We must pray and fast and fully trust in Him. We can only grow in our new wine-skins.

LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!

Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS

Today is Saturday: We pray the Joyful Mysteries:

The Joyful Mysteries

1. The Annunciation (Humility) – Luke 1:26-28
2. The Visitation (Love of Neighbor) – Luke 1:39-45
3. The Birth of Jesus (Poverty of Spirit) – Luke 2:1-20
4. The Presentation (Purity of Mind & Spirit) – Luke 2:22-38
5. Finding in The Temple (Obedience) –Luke 2:41-50

I simply love Saturday mornings, because Saturday like every other day of the week -begins with the Rosary.