The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “The
disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples
of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink.” Jesus answered them,
“Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But
the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they
will fast in those days.” And he also told them a parable. “No one tears a
piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and
the piece from it will not match the old cloak. Likewise, no one pours new wine
into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will
be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. 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.
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Reflection:
Could you discover the purity of a person heart by
mere observance of tradition or ritual such as fasting? No, because that is
only superficial and besides what is external does not totally represent the
inner being of an individual.
For example, if a person is always at church could
we now say that he/she is holy? Of course not! We still need to know more about
the person so that we could discover more about his/her character.
Jesus was questioned by the scribes and Pharisees,
why His disciples were not fasting like them and the followers of John the
Baptist. The simple answer of Jesus was they can’t fast yet because He is still
with them.
Fasting is actually good because it cleans and
purifies our bodies but what is the use of fasting if we continue to sin? What
is the use of fasting if we just use it as our standard to judge others who are
not fasting? What is the use of fasting if there’s no inner transformation
and conversion?
There is more to life than mere observance of
self-serving laws and traditions such as fasting. Inner conversion is better
than fasting, not having a self-righteous mindset is better than fasting and
humility is better than fasting.
Mercy and forgiveness are better than fasting. Most of all, a life with Jesus is far better than fasting.- Marino J. Dasmarinas
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