Make Room for the New

New wine is alive and moving, so it needs a wineskin able to expand with it. The image Jesus gives touches gently and precisely upon the way we change. God's gift does not always fit within our familiar defenses, judgments, and plans. This is not because our former life has no value, but because Christ calls us beyond what we already know and can safely control.

Perhaps you have held onto a sentence for a long time: this is simply who I am; nothing will come of this; that person will never change. Such sentences build a rigid wall around grace. Jesus does not shame you for them. He draws near and invites you to entrust even the hardened places of your heart to him.

Saint Paul lifts from us today the burden of premature judgment. We do not pronounce the final verdict even over ourselves. The Lord knows the intentions of the heart, brings hidden things into light, and asks for faithfulness rather than flawless performance. In this light, beginning again is not a forced attempt to repair ourselves. It is trust that God's work reaches deeper than our own opinion.

You do not have to rearrange everything today. A small inner opening may be enough: leaving one judgment unspoken, placing an old resentment before Jesus, or listening with curiosity to what you previously rejected. The Holy Spirit can let fresh air into the heart through openings this small.