Reflections
“How can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?”
John the Baptist was famous— both among his disciples and his enemies—for his asceticism and self­denial. He dressed in animal skins and lived on a diet of honey and locusts. For many people that is the standard by which to recog­nize a holy man of God.How is it that Jesus and his followers set such a different example—not only eating and drinking, but attending wedding feasts and dining with sinners and tax collectors? Jesus himself compares his entourage to a wed­ding party, with himself in the role of bridegroom. It suggests a kind of joyous festivity that surrounded him, and it goes some way to explaining why so many felt drawn to follow. As Pope Fran­cis says, there are Christians who seem to live in an endless Lent without Easter. Jesus represents “new wine,” which can’t simply be poured into old frameworks and ways of thinking.There is a time for mourning. But religious practice that is ex­pressed entirely in  penitence and sadness would seem to miss out on the joy of the Good News! As Julian of Norwich, an English mystic, exclaimed, “The worst has already happened and been re­ paired!”

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