I have a good friend who had a long history of addiction issues. All occurred well before I got to know him. Our friendship was built on riding motorcycles together. During the times we spent together he shared with me his substance abuse issues. It included him living on the street and also depending on a sister to care for him for a time. He had tried Alcoholics Anonymous many times. Without benefit. Each time he had gone through the program, he remained in his old life. Old friends. Old habits. Old results.
At some point in the process, he ran into an old female friend. They struck up a relationship and began dating. She was aware of his background of substance abuse. She was heavily involved in her church and he had reluctantly accompanied her at one point. Mainly because they were offering a free buffet dinner. Something about the church and the pastor struck a cord with him. He went back to AA, but this time with his new found faith as a back up. As his new approach to an old problem. He has been sober now for, I believe, almost 30 years. I recall going on a week long motorcycle ride with him in Moab, Utah. We were going with a big group, who were planning on staying together in rental condos. When I asked my friend if he wanted to stay with the group, he decided against it. Why? Because of the pull of what he assumed would be drinking and other activities he had left behind. He was avoiding what we as Catholics would call, “The near occasion of sin”.
In today’s Gospel we hear John the Baptist’s disciples questioning Jesus about why the Pharisees and John’s followers fast so much while Jesus’ fast very little. Jesus responds with:
“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.”
John’s mission was to call people to repentance because of the coming of the kingdom. The coming of the Messiah. Jesus’ disciples were with that kingdom. They were with the Messiah every day. The Kingdom of God was at hand. Like a wedding feast, they had cause to celebrate for they were with the bridegroom. Time to rejoice.
In Matthew 26:11 Jesus had just had Mary of Bethany anoint his feet with expensive perfume using her hair. Some, including the Pharisees and Judas, considered this a waste of money. Why not give the money to the poor. Jesus responds that they will always have the poor with them. But they will have Jesus for just a little while longer. There is a wonderful scene in the last episode of The Chosen, Season 4, of this event
Jesus goes on to further clarify His message:
“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.”
I am known among my motorcycle riding friends as the “flat king”. There is hardly a ride that I go on that I don’t get a flat. It is a talent that I have become most proud of. Actually, my pride in my ability to repair these flats given that I have had so much practice. What I have especially learned is that you cannot patch a hole in a tire tube with much confidence. An old tube, with a new patch, will invariably fail. Usually at the absolute worst moment. Long term fixing of a damaged motorcycle tire tube involves putting in a brand new tube. No question about it. I think this is the message Jesus is giving us. We cannot take an old sinful life and merely put a patch on it. We cannot continue our old ways and then add in a little bit of Jesus and expect to create a new life. It reminds me of the parable from Matthew of the person who sweeps out his home clean:
“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.: Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”
We cannot just leave our lives empty. In a vacuum. When we renew our lives and remove sinful behavior, we must replace that emptiness with something new. Something more. It is why, I believe, my friend was finally successful with AA in kicking his demons. His addictions. He not only removed the behaviors but he replaced them with a new life. A life in Christ. Yes, the rules and precepts of AA helped but they would have no affect if he returned to his old life. His old ways.
Jesus tells us that his disciples do not have to fast while the bridegroom is with them. And I think He tells us this too. When we have Jesus in our lives, in our hearts, we must rejoice and be filled with gladness. We must mourn and fast and sacrifice when sin chases Jesus away from us. So sweep our houses clean with prayer, sacrifice, fasting, confession. But when that house is clean, invite a Guest to feast at a banquet. No, invite THE Guest. The one who will take us to the eternal banquet.
