Friday of the
Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
(Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 5:33-39)
Years after the office was computerized, a typewriter was
kept near the secretary’s desk. It
seemed to mostly take up space, but the secretary said she used it from time to
time. Now almost thirty years later, the old
typewriter is gone. If Jesus walked the
earth today, he might use the typewriter as he used cloth and wine in today’s
gospel.
With Jesus the long-anticipated Kingdom has come in its fullness. It is fitting that his disciples eat and
drink because the Kingdom is like a banquet where everyone celebrates. Jesus illustrates the unmitigated joy of the
Kingdom by showing that there is no mixing new joy and the old yearning. It would be like putting a patch from new cloth on old trousers or putting fresh wine in old wineskins. In both cases the new would be too much for the old. It is like the computer that has completely
replaced the typewriter.
But still for some the coming of the Kingdom is too good
to be true. They are content with drinking the wine from the old wineskins. They would prefer the straight-forwardness of
the typewriter. They are like the Jews
whom Jesus is critiquing. They may be
good people, but they are missing out on all the comfort of the Father’s love
found in Jesus.
