“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.’” // Luke 5:38-39
The final line of today’s Gospel is a real attention-getter. I read that line and I get the image of a superspeed train leaving the station—if you aren’t on board, you’re going to get left in the dust.
People who are busy drinking old wine, says the Gospel, won’t have any desire for the new wine. Those people will be happy with old wine, having no understanding of how wonderful the new wine is.
This part of the Gospel perfectly echoes today’s responsorial, “Commit to the LORD your way; trust in him, and he will act.” This is an excellent psalm for a graduation cake, but it’s also relevant for each one of us in our daily living.
I want to be on board with what God is doing right now, and in order to do that, I need to give Him everything I have going on. I need to commit my ways to Him and then trust in Him. If I operate in this kind of relationship—giving God permission to be in control of my life—then I can rest assured that I won’t get left off that train, that I won’t be happy with old wine.
God, You are the ruler of every detail of my life. Give me the courage to trust in You, the wisdom to accept Your offer of freedom, and the knowledge to understand that when I commit my ways to You, everything will come together with Your perfect peace and within Your perfect plan. Amen.