The Memorial of St Agnes

Heb. 5:1-10, Mk 2:18-22. When Jesus was accused by some hard-line traditionalists in today's Gospel that His disciples do not fast, He did not get trapped into debate about the value of fasting and its tradition. Jesus draws examples from everyday life: just as experience has taught winemakers not to put unfermented wine into old wineskins, or the old, shrunken skins will burst. New times call for new responses and every issue cannot be resolved just by appealing to tradition. Unless our spirituality can stand the test of time, it cannot fit the religious sense of God’s people.

Having spoken of Himself as the bridegroom, Jesus also compares His presence to that of new wine. The 'new wine' of the loving presence of the Lord and life-giving activity calls for 'new wineskins', to contain and dispense it. The love of the Lord calls us to keep renewing our lives so that we can truly be moulded by His love. St Agnes whose memorial we celebrate was moulded by the love of God as she died violently because she refused marriage to a young pagan man who handed her over to the government for the crime of being a Christian. Living the true meaning of her name "Agnes - pure,” would not want to defile herself. She is identified as a symbol of the Christian values of human dignity, chastity and faith in the face of the cruelly licentious imperium of the Roman culture. 

May the Lord give us the fruits of the Holy Spirit, make us patient, kind and gentle! Amen!! Good morning, have a successful and fulfilled week!!!