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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