Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year 2

Title

The New Wine Has Come and Is Coming

Outline

Even in religious communities there are ups and downs

One may find what was a grand monastery that now lies in ruins

One may find a center of spirituality that is now unnoticed and likewise Saints like St Teresa of Avila who were suspect in their day but later are seen as a spiritual high point

Judy knows some Dominicans in Austin and we both knew Cenacle Sisters in Houston; both have or have had positive spiritual influence in our lives, but both are likely to pass soon, perhaps from the post-Vatican II “spirit of Vatican II” influence.

Our passages give us some perspective

First, even in darkness there is hope

Amos is writing as Israel is going downhill. Jeroboam II is still king but in 35 or 40 years Israel will be no more

Yet after he prophesies doom and exile, he has a vision of restoration and prosperity, a prosperity that includes the “raising of the fallen hut of David”

Sometimes the way down is the road to the way up, to restoration and more, even if we will not be there to see it.

Second, renewal calls for new ways of living

The fasting practices of the Pharisees were about the destruction of the temple in 586 and the desecration of the temple in 189 BC. They were devotions connected to the past calling upon God to bring restoration.

But the restoration was present in Jesus. It did not look like it had been imagined - it was more than had been imagined - but it did not just “patch” the old or put new spirit into the old, it called for new Jesus-oriented devotion.

So there was a new community, a restored Israel in the followers of Jesus, a Church, to which would be added (in the near future) his gentile followers. Even when the time came for them to fast, it would not be for the distant past, but for the loss of the physical presence of Jesus and perhaps at the death of the martyrs - they would be longing, not for the restoration of Jerusalem, but for the return of Jesus the Messiah to his Temple the Church.

In smaller ways devotions within the Church have changed over the centuries, most associated with a renewal.

We need to remember the whole Theodrama and our place in it, but we need to let go of some things in the past as we push on into new eras of the rule of Jesus. Christianity looks forward to Jesus’ coming - even the Eucharist and devotion to Mary pull events in t he past into the present as we look towards the future.

Sisters, I do not have a specific word for the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist -

I have seen change happening as the era of the foundresses draws to a close and the second generation leads forward, but I only know individuals, beloved individuals, and that is fine.

I realize that there is danger for the Ordinariate in getting stuck in the past: I am glad our bishop is not a former Anglican and that young men are moving up through the ranks. I trust that they will look forward.

I wonder about the Brothers and Sisters of Charity of which I am a part. Our danger is in trying to revive the Jesus movement/ Catholic charismatic movement of the past rather than looking at what the same Spirit is doing now.

And for the Christianity in the West in general and the USA in particular I suspect we are going through a cultural collapse, that even the Catholic Church will become smaller and purer, as Pope Benedict XVI prophesied. Our danger as Christians is in trying to resurrect the religious 50’s rather than follow Jesus into the darkness knowing that our bright future is not in going backwards but in pressing on towards him and his return.

Readings

Catholic Daily Readings 7-2-2022: Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

FIRST READING

Amos 9:11–15

11 On that day I will raise up

the fallen hut of David;

I will wall up its breaches,

raise up its ruins,

and rebuild it as in the days of old,

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom,

and all nations claimed in my name—

oracle of the LORD, the one who does this.

13 Yes, days are coming—

oracle of the LORD—

When the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps

and the vintager, the sower of the seed;

The mountains shall drip with the juice of grapes,

and all the hills shall run with it.

14 I will restore my people Israel,

they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,

Plant vineyards and drink the wine,

set out gardens and eat the fruits.

15 I will plant them upon their own ground;

never again shall they be plucked

From the land I have given them—

the LORD, your God, has spoken.

Catholic Daily Readings 7-2-2022: Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

RESPONSE

Psalm 85:9b

9 I will listen for what God, the LORD, has to say;

surely he will speak of peace

To his people and to his faithful.

May they not turn to foolishness!

PSALM

Psalm 85:9ab, 10–14

9 I will listen for what God, the LORD, has to say;

surely he will speak of peace

To his people and to his faithful.

May they not turn to foolishness!

10 Near indeed is his salvation for those who fear him;

glory will dwell in our land.

11 Love and truth will meet;

justice and peace will kiss.

12 Truth will spring from the earth;

justice will look down from heaven.

13 Yes, the LORD will grant his bounty;

our land will yield its produce.

14 Justice will march before him,

and make a way for his footsteps.

Catholic Daily Readings 7-2-2022: Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

John 10:27

27 My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

GOSPEL

Matthew 9:14–17

14 Then the disciples of John approached him and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast [much], but your disciples do not fast?” 15 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. 16 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. 17 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.”

Notes

Catholic Daily Readings 7-2-2022: Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2022 | ORDINARY TIME

SATURDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

YEAR 2 | ROMAN MISSAL | LECTIONARY

First Reading Amos 9:11–15

Response Psalm 85:9b

Psalm Psalm 85:9ab, 10–14

Gospel Acclamation John 10:27

Gospel Matthew 9:14–17

GREEN