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. (Mt 9:14-17)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070823.cfm
New wine, fresh wineskins. Change is never easy. Change requires us to have faith that God has a bigger and better plan for us, the world, and especially the church. As the Lord reminds us, the Holy Spirit has been in the business of changing the church for a very long time. We just have to trust the Spirit. The Virgin Mary sings the praises of God who does surprisingly new things: scattering the proud in their conceit, casting down the mighty from their thrones, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry with good things, and sending the rich away empty.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Saturday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, July 8
