Jesus, the New Wine

Jesus tells us that “new wine must be put into fresh skins.” In the Lord’s time wine was not kept in bottles like today but in skins. When the new wine was placed in a skin, it continued to ferment, producing carbon dioxide. And old skin do not have the elasticity of a new one and so it would burst and the wine is lost.

What is the meaning and the messages of this Gospel reading for us? Jesus is telling us: stay fresh, stay young in spirit. Be open to challenges and new ideas.

Old people are afraid, get tired easily, find it had to adjust to change. They prefer the status quo. They are afraid to risk, have no more drive. That’s why they say: “you can’t teach old dogs new tricks” you can’t correct and old tree anymore.

But young people like challenges. They are courageous to the point of being reckless. They want to prove themselves. Take risks, sacrifice even die for something they believe in.

The Gospel of Jesus is this new wine; new way of life which requires a new mind and a new attitude; new values, new courage and new enthusiasm. Jesus wants us to have this new fire in our hearts. I wonder if you have this fire within you?

In the Inquirer Supplementary last Sunday, entitled: “Against all odds.” It’s the story of Grace Padaca, this year’s Ramon Magsaysay awardee for Government Service. At age 3 she was afflicted with polio that made her mobility difficult. She had to overcome teasing in elementary and high school; instead of being discouraged it pushed her to study more. She graduated magna cum laude in college! The people of Isabela urged her to run. But she had no political machiner, no funds. The grassroot support made all this possible. At first she ran for a seat in Congress but lost. The second time she ran as Governor against a formidable political clan and won by an overwhelming majority. She was again re-elected. She had to battle a stagnant economy, illegal logging and corruption. In all these, Grace did not give up. She was brave and persevering. She accepted the challenges with courage. Indeed, she is an amazing grace!

This is the spirit of our Gospel today. Keep your flame alive and burning bright!

Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote an energizing poem “Ullyses.” At this point in his life, Ullyses is now an old man. Though old and his youth and strength well spent still he would say:

“We are not now that strength which in old day
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are.
One equal temper of heroic hearts;
Made weak by time and fate, but strong and will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

Be brave. Be hopeful. Shun pessimism and cynicism. I saw a powerful icon that can teach us: a lighted candle giving and sharing its light to another unlighted candle. Be that candle. Be that light. Be that flame. Burn for Christ!

Mama Mary's Birthday

Last thursday, sept 4 I was in Don Bosco Technology Center. At the lobby, i found a student's diary on the bench. One boy must have surely forgot or lost his diary, I mused. So I tried to check who this boy could be.. It belonged to a Grade 3 pupil.. one of the entry was written: bring a flowers on sept 8, monday. I smiled.

Before I knew it the boy arrived asking for his diary. As I handed it to him I asked:"what will you bring on monday?" "Flowers.." he answered shyly. "And why will you bring flowers?" I continued in a teasing tone.. "Because it's Mama Mary's birthday!" He blurted confidently with a smile as his eyes sparkled.

September 8 is Mama Mary's birthday! Let us make her happy by offering her flowers. More than roses or lilies that wither and fade, let us give her a more lasting garland -- a spiritual bouquet! I would suggest the following practical things: go to mass in her honor; one could say 3 hail mary's offering it for more vocations or for the conversion of hardened sinners; one could actually memorize the Memorare, St. Bernard's beautiful prayer; or one could do a good turn in secret for her; perhaps offer any inconvenience of the day to her like bearing the heat, putting up with an annoying classmate or paying attention to a boring class; perhaps one could say the rosary anytime this day.. Whatever it is, the aim is to please Mama Mary on her natal day!

Her birth is ordained towards her mission as Mother of God. In her birth we rejoice. One of her many titles is "cause of our joy." Indeed she is the cause of our joy by giving us Jesus, the joy of humanity.

Restlessness

I recently read a fascinating conversion story over the internet. Joe Eszterhas, Hollywood’s highest paid screenwriter, wrote the story of his spiritual conversion from a party-lifestyle to one devoted to Christ and his family in his book, Crossbearer: A Memoir of Faith published on September 2 by St. Martin’s Press. As an author he wrote the scripts like Basic Instincts, Jagged Edge and Showgirls and practically invented “erotic thrillers.” At 56 after a wild living with a deeply ingrained habit of smoking and drinking, his life got a turn around. During the summer of 2001, Joe was diagnosed with throat cancer. His doctors removed 80 percent of his larynx and told him to immediately quit drinking and smoking.

Such a recommendation gave him a “hellish” experience. Walking one day through a tree-lined neighborhood, he realized he had hit rock-bottom. He thought he was going crazy. He felt jittery and restless while his whole frame trembled and twisted. He recounts that “every single nerve ending was demanding a drink and a cigarette.” He sat down on the curb and began to cry like a child. Then he heard himself uttering “please God help me.” He had not prayed since he was a child. God had been irrelevant to him all his life. He was also surprise and shocked that he said it. He claimed he had never said it before.

That simple plea had a considerable effect. Immediately, he was overwhelmed with peace. His impatience and restlessness stopped. He no longer trembled. At that moment he saw a “shimmering, dazzling, nearly blinding brightness that made me cover my eyes with my hands.” Joe had seen the light of Christ and he would describe the experience as “absolutely overwhelming.” Like Saul on his way to Damascus, Joe would walk back home a new man. Since his Damascus-like experience in 2001, he and his wife attend mass regularly at a local Catholic Church. Furthermore, his doctors confirmed that he was “miraculously cured” from his throat cancer. His tissues have regenerated to the point that there is no trace of cancer anymore.

He wrote his book as a “thank you to God” for the wonderful blessings of cure and conversion. Through it he would like to tell the world what He “has done for me.” Today, Joe continues to receive large offers for movies with dark, sinister themes. He says he does not want to go there anymore. “Frankly my life changed from the moment God entered my heart.”

This remarkable conversion story reminded me of a similar episode that happened to St. Augustine whose feast was celebrated last August 28. Born to a pagan father and a deeply Catholic mother, he grew up in a largely pagan society where education was dominated by men who opposed the teachings of Christ. His vices led him astray and his profound intellect steered him to error. One day a deep inner turmoil agitated his soul. Such a turbulent spiritual conflict drove him to an insatiable restlessness. His soul yearned for peace and serenity. And in this state of restive fury while in his garden at Milan, he heard a disquieting voice of an unseen child instructing him: “take and read!” In his perplexity he grabbed the nearest text on had and read Paul’s epistle to the Romans 13:13-14 “Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”

A flash of realization settled in his soul. He returned home a changed man. He would relate this transforming experience in his famous autobiography “Confessions” which is both a classic in spirituality and literature. “Our hearts are restless” writes Augustine, “until they rest in Thee!”

St. Augustine truly captured in words the common sentiment of the human heart. The symptoms of conflict, tension, war and meaninglessness outside us are all rooted in the inner emptiness of the soul. We seek God in wrong places. Until He fills us up our hearts remain restless.