Unexpected Message

~~~ 1 John 2:3-11 ~~~ Psalm 96 ~~~ Luke 2:22-35 ~~~

Purification...Presentation...Consecration

...the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord...

After the required days for purification
Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple.

They presented him as the Jewish law prescribed
and there they met the prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna.

Joseph provided the gift of a pair turtle doves.
It was in a way buying back your son from God.

The message in the temple was not at all
what these new parents were expecting to hear.

There joy in the birth of their son Jesus
was muffled by the news...

“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
(and you yourself a sword will pierce)
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

Simeon reveals to Mary and Joseph
that his eyes have seen the light of salvation.
The birth of the child Jesus banishes the darkness.
Jesus is the true light of true light.

Whoever loves his brother remains in the light,
and there is nothing in him to cause a fall. 
Whoever hates his brother is in darkness;
he walks in darkness
and does not know where he is going
because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Jesus brought love into the world...
a world blanketed in darkness.

A great light has come
to inspire and to lead  us to eternity.

Glory to God in the highest.

Blessed into the light of Christ.

~~~Peace~~~
JOY
to the World!

Juice of the Finest Grapes

~~~ Amos 9:11-15 ~~~ Psalm 85 ~~~ Matthew 9: 14-17 ~~~

"The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountain, and the hills
shall run with it."

This is such a vivid visual. Imagine the juice of grapes...wine pouring down a mountainside. Rivers and streams overflowing with red and purple juice from the finest grapes. What a sight this would be to behold.

I cannot help but think of the outpouring of the precious blood of our Lord.

From the top of Calvary hanging on the cross his blood streamed down for our salvation. Jesus gave us the consecration of his body and blood
at the Last Supper.

He used wine, the juice of grapes, to represent his own blood for us.

He says,  “Drink from it, all of you,for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day

when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.”

(Matt. 26:27-29)

Jesus himself is both the new wine and the new wineskin.

He is one in the same; he came that we might have new life.

"...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."

If we remain unchanged when we hear the Lord or when we encounter him among us we are the old wineskins. The old wineskins are worn by use over the years. The old wine skins have lost their capacity for preserving new wine.

The old wineskins are more apt to rupture and spill the new wine.

We are given numerous invitations to become new wineskins...through many of our Sacraments. If we want to  be containers ready to receive the new wine then it seems that we would also want to be like new wineskins as well.

The psalmist sings for God to create a new heart in him; we too can sing to become new wineskins. New wineskins eager to embrace the wine of mercy and compassion.

The new wine poured out for us as the juice of finest grapes

flooding the streams and valleys with love.

So what are you going to do...hold on to the old wineskin and reminisce

or accept the new wineskin with hope and joy?

Freely drink in the new wine given to us by himself as himself of himself.