HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II. 04.07.2020.

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Readings: Amos 9:11-15; Psalm 85 and Matthew 9:14-17. 


THE NEW AND OLD WINE SKINS IN THE WEDDING FEAST 

 

The liturgy of today present to us God’s promise of restoration, which Christ used the imagery of old and new wineskin to teach us. What exactly does the imagery of the old and new wine communicates to us?

 

The first reading of today present the concluding part of the prophet Amos, on restoring the house of David to Israel. The Lord said, “In that day, I will raise up booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old…” Long before the time of Amos, the northern kingdom of Israel rejected the royal house of David. Here God promised to restore David’s royal line, fulfilled in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who is of the tabernacle of David. He promised to take what was ruined and to repair and rebuild it. Sometimes God works in a completely new way, letting the old die and doing a work of new creation (2 Cor. 5:17, Is. 43:19).

 

Amos knew that Israel was ruined, because he speaks of restoring the tabernacle of David instead of the house of David. A tabernacle is a house, but a humble one. This “Pictures the ‘house’ of David that was becoming a dilapidated shack and there was a promise of restoration, of which the Lord said, “Behold the days are coming when the ploughmen shall overtake the reaper… The mountain shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it, I will restore fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined city and inhabit them…” Amos described how miraculous and amazing God’s blessing and restoration would be. When God releases blessing and restoration, fruit comes from unexpected places. Normally, grapevines do not grow well on mountains or high hills, but in the days of Israel’s restoration even the mountains shall drip with sweet wine and all the hills shall flow with it.

 

God’s restoration to Israel is fully realized in Christ, of which the Gospel of today indicate that He is here with us as the bridegroom and we are His bride. The prophets often spoke of God as a bridegroom and his people as his bride, and now Christ claims to embody this divine bridegroom. He regards his public ministry as like a wedding celebration in that it is a time for rejoicing. Then he informs the Pharisees that during this special time of celebration, fasting is not appropriate. It is, rather, a time for sharing at the table, and Christ shared table with all sorts of people.

 

In keeping with that wedding image for this public ministry, Christ goes on to speak of the new wine of his ministry. Wine is associated with sharing table, especially in the setting of a wedding feast. Christ reference to the wineskins was His announcement that the present institutions of Judaism could not and would not contain His new wine. He would form a new institution, that is, the church, that would bring Jew and Gentile together into a completely new body (Ephesians 2:16).


Dear friends in Christ, the imagery of the new wineskin communicates the duty of the Church to preach the Gospel even in unfavorable times as in favorable seasons. We are not to imagine that, if unfruitful seasons come, we are therefore to cease from sowing our seed. Our business is with act, not with result. Let us do our duty, even though it would bring us no present reward. May God bless his word in our life through Christ our Lord. Amen! Peace be with you!

 

Fr. Ken Dogbo, OSJ

Location: Papalanto, Nigeria

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