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Mabuting Balita, 6 July 2024 – Matthew 9: 14-17
MEANINGLESS ACT
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. 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.”
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Fasting is a form of sacrifice and repentance. We are asked to fast on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of lent, and on Good Friday, when we commemorate Christ’s death on the cross. We are one with Christ’s sacrifice and at the same time, we repent for our sins that led to Christ’s sacrifice. While Jesus was with the apostles, it was always a time for celebration, but when he had to go through calvary, it was the time to make sacrifices in reparation and repentance for our sins.
Unless tradition is observed knowing and accepting its importance and significance, it renders the tradition a MEANINGLESS ACT to us. There are many traditions in the Catholic Church, and the most prominent of all is – making the SIGN OF THE CROSS. If we just make the sign without knowing and accepting its importance to our Faith, it becomes a MEANINGLESS ACT. So, why do we Catholics make the sign of the cross? By doing it, we profess that we believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is an abbreviation of the Creed we profess at our Sunday Masses and very important feasts. We make a mark on ourselves while professing our faith because we want the Blessed Trinity to rule over our lives. Outside the Church and outside our homes, are we ashamed or shy to make the sign of the cross? If we are, we have to ask ourselves why?
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
