Judgment is always a fun thing to talk about, right? In the first reading today from 1 Corinthians 4, that’s just what St. Paul talks about. Read what he has to say about judgment.
In the Gospel reading today from Luke 5, we hear Jesus talking about wine and wineskins. He says, “No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says ‘The old is good.'”
In this story, the new wine is the Holy Spirit. The old wine refers to our old (sinful) ways. Jesus is alluding to the fact that we can become very comfortable in our sin. So comfortable that we may not even regard it as sin anymore. We see no reason to change, much less want to change. I believe this ennui about sin is the work of the devil. Once we get a taste of the new wine, hopefully we’ll want to chuck the old wine lock, stock and barrel. But first we have to realize that the old wine is rancid, and making us sick.
Father, give us the courage to taste the new wine of the Spirit. Help us to realize that we must pitch the old wine of sin, and drink fully of that new wine. Amen.
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