Monday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Hebrews 5:1-10 | Psalm 109(110):1-4 | Mark 2:18-22
And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine, fresh skins! (Mark 2:22)
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that we should not cling to the old ways while we try to follow His precepts. Such a half-hearted commitment would lead nowhere.
I’m reminded of the old story about the man whose misguided faith led to his death. Here’s that story with a major twist that relates to today’s scripture:
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A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately.
A devout Christian heard the warning and started packing a trunk full of religious artifacts and relics that he had collected during his various pilgrimages.
As he was dragging the heavy trunk out to his front porch, his neighbours came by and said, “There’s room in our car, but you’ll have to leave your trunk behind.” The man declined. “I have faith that God will not want His holy relics to be destroyed. Go, save yourselves, He will save me!”
Soon, the floodwaters poured into the town, forcing the man to climb up to the second floor, dragging his trunk all the way. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. The officers shouted to him, “Quick! Climb aboard, but leave your trunk behind!” The man refused, waving them off saying, “Go save someone else, I have faith that God treasures these relics!”
The waters rose higher and the man had to climb up to the rooftop, his trunk perching precariously beside him. A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, “Grab my hand and I will pull you up, but you need to leave your trunk behind!” The man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No! God wants these relics! Go save someone else!”
Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned. The trunk and its contents were never seen again.
When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t You come and save me?”
God glared at him. “What made you think I was willing to pay for your extra baggage?”
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As we draw closer to Chinese New Year, most of us are busy performing the yearly ritual of “spring cleaning”, actually 12 months’ worth of should’ve-done-that-earlier compressed into a frantic flurry of blood, sweat and tears.
But as we discard the physical items we no longer need, and dust off the things that remain, should we not also look to our spiritual health as well?
Why not take a long, honest look at our lives and let go of a few activities and preoccupations that really aren’t good uses of our time, or are actively leading us in the direction of the Evil One? Perhaps it’s a casual need to gossip, or a crippling obsession with pornography, or a terrible trouble with alcohol. Some of these are certainly trickier to rid ourselves of than others, but we can ask for help from a sea of fellow Catholics who’ve all experienced similar difficulties.
And after we’ve bid farewell to those nasty habits, why not make a commitment to apply some “polish” to our spiritual lives as well? Perhaps we could upgrade our confessions from a reluctant Advent-Lent to a quarterly schedule.
Or spend some time after Sunday mass praying and reflecting before Christ on His cross, instead of trying to beat everyone else out the church doors.
Anything that would help us brighten our outlook on our lives and the people we interact with on a daily basis, that would help brighten their outlook in turn and make them more willing to partake of God’s love that we share, and share it in turn with others.
Brothers and sisters, the sins we carry around with us will result in hefty baggage fees at the check-in counter to Heaven. It would be best to shed it as quickly as possible, and don the ultra-light and spotless cloak of Christ that is really all we truly need.
Amen.