God, Love and New Wine Skins
A long time ago a farmer got tired of his daily routine and decided to climb the cliffs above the valley. He climbed all day until he reached a ledge, and there he found an eagle’s nest. He carefully took one egg and stowed it in his pack. When he got home, he put the egg in a mother hen’s nest.
Some weeks later, a healthy egret hatched with the baby chicks. So it was that the eagle grew up with its brother and sister chicks. One day, late in its life, the eagle happened to look up at the sky. High over head, an eagle soared majestically!
What’s that? cried the old eagle in awe. It’s magnificent! That’s an eagle, replied a nearby chicken. That’s the King of the Birds. We’re only chickens.
And so it was that the eagle lived and died a chicken, because that’s all it believed itself to be. (Author unknown).
How exciting for us that through revelation and the incarnation of Jesus we can discover the power that goes beyond that of eagles. We can soar majestically with wondrous energy and power that cannot be contained.
“Nobody puts new wine into old wine skins” (Luke 5:17). There is the energy of yeast to be considered. God can transform us like yeast working in dough. We can grow into the persons we are meant to be.
A Chinese fortune cookie proclaims: Be yourself! No one is more qualified.
It is the yeast that can grow and burst old wine skins. Divine energy in us is hard to contain. It was poured into us at Baptism. The power of the resurrected Christ overthrew death and opened the gates of hell. That power is ours through the Eucharist and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
When we allow God to work in us, we can rise above our former selves. This transformation is gradual, akin to the yeast working its magic in dough. As we commit ourselves to God, we experience change that fortifies our faith, and we grow into the people we were meant to be.
“I know the plans I have in mind for you” (Jeremiah 29:11). The God of creation, who knew us before we were formed in our mother’s womb, has plans for us. In the fullness of time God will reveal those plans to us in power and majesty.
Prophetic minister Helen Caulder wants us to imagine God saying to us: “A new era is here! This is the season of new wine. You are about to encounter Me as you never have before.” And “This is My promise to you, being fulfilled. Here I am! That which you have looked forward to, the new wine is here. This is the day your ‘cup runs over’.”
The New Testament compares the infilling of the Holy Spirit to wine. Christ’s blood in the Eucharist is that new wine pouring into us. And where do we go with this new life in us? Science has proven that our emotional energy will radiate from our bodies and connect with everyone with whom we come in contact.
Love will direct us. “Nothing happens in vain,” Pope Francis said; “Whatever our situation in life, and life has its challenges, if we are sure of our faith in Jesus and know how tenderly our Father holds us, we can love others. We can bless them with our presence,”
(573 words)
