This week's readings Week of March 2 - 8 Sunday, March 2, 2003 Reading I: Hos 2:16b, 17b, 21-22 Reading II: 2 Cor 3:1b-6 Gospel: Mk 2:18-22 Monday, March 3, 2003 Reading I: Sir 17:20-24 Gospel: Mk 10:17-27 Tuesday, March 4, 2003 Reading I: Sir 35:1-12 Gospel: Mk 10:28-31 Wednesday, March 5, 2003 Reading I: Jl 2:12-18 Reading II: 2 Cor 5:20--6:2 Gospel: Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 Thursday, March 6, 2003 Reading I: Dt 30:15-20 Gospel: Lk 9:22-25 Friday, March 7, 2003 Reading I: Is 58:1-9a Gospel: Mt 9:14-15 Saturday, March 8, 2003 Reading I: Is 58:9b-14 Gospel: Lk 5:27-32 Pope's Prayer Intentions March General Intention The Sacrament of Reconciliation: That the people of God and our pastors may grow in the realization of the importance of God's merciful gift of love, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. March Mission Intention The local Churches of Africa: That in their current difficult situations, they may feel the urgency of announcing the Gospel coherently and courageously.

Change:
It is a part of Christian life

		Word of God  Word of Life  Fr. John G. Stillmank

Jesus' two familiar examples of an old cloak needing repair or replacement and new wineskins for the new wine can help us understand the role of change in our lives, especially on our spiritual journey as Christians.

First is the old cloak. No one repairs it with a new piece of unshrunken cloth, Jesus says. The result would be that the new, unshrunken cloth would tear away from the old material, worsening the problem.

"Is it time to let Jesus clothe us anew? Is it time to let Jesus fill us with the new wine of his kingdom? Is it time to let Jesus into the kitchen to bake us into a fresh people?"

Second is the new wine. No one pours it into old wineskins, Jesus says. Wine and skins would be lost because the old wineskins are not able to hold the new wine - they would burst.

Jesus might even have included an example about bread: no one makes a sandwich with stale or moldy bread, or the kids won't eat it and they'll go hungry!

The solution, Jesus might be saying, is to put on a new cloak when the old one is past repairing, to pour the new wine into fresh wineskins, to toss the stale bread and bake some fresh. The analogy to our spiritual lives is that sometimes we need change, and radical change at that.

Readings for Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (March 2, 2003) Hosea 2:16b, 17b, 21-22 Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13 2 Corinthians 3:1b-6 Mk 2:18-22

Has our spiritual life become like an old coat: comfortable but worn? Has our way of looking at the demands of Christian discipleship become like old wineskins: stretched to the limit? Has our life of prayer and worship become stale and dry? Is it time to let Jesus clothe us anew? Is it time to let Jesus fill us with the new wine of his kingdom? Is it time to let Jesus into the kitchen to bake us into a fresh people?

Next week when we begin to celebrate the season of Lent, the answer will definitely be "yes!" No matter where we are in our spiritual journey, we are naked and cold without Jesus to clothe us in his love. No matter how rich is our spiritual life, it can become bitter and tasteless without Jesus to renew us. No matter now long we've been worshipping and praying, we can become dry and stale without Jesus to refresh us.

Change must be part of our spiritual journey, but never change merely for the sake of change. When Jesus calls us to repentance and conversion, he calls us to be people who can change for the better: in order to serve and love God more fully, in order to see to our neighbor's needs more generously, in order to become more fully a disciple.

If that means tearing off the old, worn, and dirty cloak of our tired spirituality and letting Jesus robe us in a white garment washed in his own blood - then here, Lord, take away my sins and clothe me again as at my baptism!

If it means tossing aside the old, stretched, and breaking wineskins of our approach to life and letting Jesus fill us with the sweet wine of his compassion and forgiveness - then here, Lord, empty me of pride and selfishness and fill me with you!

Finally, if it means that my being a disciple of the Lord Jesus has become like a stale crust of bread - then here, Lord, break me as you broke the bread of the new covenant!

Fr. John G. Stillmank is Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Madison and pastor of St. Andrew Parish, Verona, and St. William Parish, Paoli.