Last year our dishwasher broke. My wife, Anna, called the repair company that we have a repair contract. The repairman came on time and studied the situation and worked on the machine for about a half hour. He did several things and basically gave my wife instructions to wash the dishes before we put them into the dishwasher. This did not go over too good with my bride. Eventually we were satisfied with another tip from another repairman and the dishwasher seems to be running okay at present. Not the best but good enough. It gets the job done.
A repair means restoration as the prophet Amos was speaking in our first reading today. Amos 9:14 “I will restore my people Israel, they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, Plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits”.
My buddy Skip has an old saying when someone asks him for advice. “When you find yourself in a hole … stop digging.” Jesus is giving similar advice today. He is talking about repairs for our souls and the steps we as a people need to take to achieve that end. When I was a boy, one of my favorite memories were my old white t-shirts that I would wear in the long hot Florida summers. It was perfect light cotton used for working for my Dad or play. After a long series of wear a hole would eventually develop, but it would be small at first. That was the point when the t-shirt would become the most comfortable and so… so soft. It was also at this point when my mother would convert them to a rag for cleaning windows or dusting. My sister would take extreme delight upon finding a hole and trying to make it bigger to speed up the process. It was a game between us and we laugh about it today. No repair here but a conversion.
Whenever we receive the Holy Eucharist, we are repairing our souls by fasting and cleaning our bodies for the celebration of the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. In the early 1950’s the laws of the Church on fasting said that we could not even have water before we receive Holy Communion. Christ in today’s reading was predicting the fasting we would do but not only just with the absence of food or drink but with good works and alms giving every day of our lives. It is holding the door for someone or helping someone at work with a problem that you had solved.
In our gospel for today Christ was defending why his apostles were not fasting and the reason was they had no need of repair. They were with the bridegroom and the celebration was in process.
In Matthew 9 : 15 ” 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.”
Today prayer, fasting, alms giving and good works are the repair process that we need to repair our souls for both the celebration of Mass and receiving the Bridegroom in the form of Holy Eucharist and also preparation for our union with Him in our eternal home, heaven. We here on earth today are preparing for the Bridegroom. When we are with the Bridegroom, no repair is needed and as Jesus ended our gospel today “both are preserved.”
God Bless
Bob Burford
