Wedding ceremonies are usually joyous moments for both the celebrants and the invited guests. Everything about a wedding ceremony – the dress, the venue, the cake, the lights, the reception, the music – speaks of happiness, love and joy. Invited guests try to adapt to wedding-guest etiquette as much possible. This is all about trying one’s best to be respectful and polite, considering the fact that the newlyweds put a lot of time and energy into perfecting their special day, and one would not want to offend them in any way, even if it’s only unintentionally.
No, of course, it is not possible to fast when we are invited to a wedding party, especially when we are friends of the groom. Tasting food or drink presented can be one of the ways to show respect to the celebrants. In my local culture, you could, somehow, be offending your host if you refuse to partake of the food presented at their wedding party. Thus, the wedding guests do not fast while the bridegroom is still with them, says Jesus. With this simple reasoning, Jesus dismantles the specious accusations that are leveled against his disciples of being not very devoted (by not fasting as others fast).
Of course, there will be a time to fast, to be in solidarity with the poor, to purify the body, to dampen the passions, but not when the bridegroom is with us. Jesus dismantles the devotion of the Pharisees which focuses on the attitudes to be held, on the prayers and rituals to be observed with scruple and obsession, without reflecting on the heart with which they are practiced. With this, the Master shows that worshipping God is not just about keeping to traditional devotional practices, observances or rituals. It is important to examine and renew the heart with which religious practices are kept. New wine into new wineskin.
The new wine of the Gospel, the novelty of the Kingdom, makes the old wineskins of the tired and repetitive tradition explode, and forces believers to rethink their devotional practices as well. The new skin into which it is urgent to pour the new wine of the revelation of Lord Jesus is the HEART. When the heart is new, the Lord is always loved in a perennial newness. On the other hand, when the heart is old, one falls into an endless repetition of dead works. The heart, however, is not made new once and for all. Every day the Lord must renew it through his Holy Spirit. For the “new heart” it is no longer a question of fasting or non-fasting, of this or that other work to be done. Instead, it is a question of pouring out into the world the greatest love of the Father and the most sublime grace of Christ Jesus, in an ever-present communion with the Holy Spirit.
Today, many have this idea that the devout person should always be mortified and penitent, staid and serious. Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees’ accusation shows there is also a joyful and playful dimension of faith and life; the encounter with God is not participation in a funeral but in a beautiful wedding party. If we forget this dimension, we betray the biblical vision of God. Jesus, with his response, enjoins us to be careful not to burden ourselves with useless devotions which only serve to gratify our spiritual pride. Rather, let us follow the balanced proposals that the Church makes to us. We fast, when necessary, and we rejoice, when necessary.
