Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9,14-17
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,
“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered 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.
No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,
for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
People do not put new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.
Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
The new and the old
1) Fasting. By definition, fasting refers to depriving yourself from something that you may consider a necessity or refraining from using or doing something. We fast to remind ourselves that life does not revolve around those particular items. Many things ‘own’ us today, leaving us with a feeling of emptiness. We need to fast from those things that keep us away from God. Today, think of what you should leave aside. Perhaps, instead of fasting and not eating certain foods, you could fast from gossip, from YouTube or Instagram, or online games. Your only real need is God.
2) The Groom. Jesus reminds us that when He is in our lives, it is a time of joy, time for celebration. When God is given His rightful place in your life, then it is not necessarily a time to fast, but to celebrate! Put God first. Make Him the center of your life.
3) Time. There are times when it seems that God disappears, that He is not there. This is the time when we must work internally to become aware of what He wants from us. Don’t stop working on your sanctity and don’t stop seeking the center of your soul, God. There are times when you feel you have Him and times when you must go out and look for Him. Fasting can help you get rid of those things which may be hiding God from you. Seek Him, the Bridegroom, above all else.
God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And remember that Heaven is our goal.
