Today Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Mark (2: 18-22) in which Jesus, when asked why his disciples were not fasting, replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of fasting while he is still with them. But the time will come for the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast’.

Fr Paul says today’s reading comes from Mark’s collection of several confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees in Galilee. The Pharisees were sticklers for observance of the practices of the Jewish Law. Fasting was originally a sign of sorrow and repentance. Think about when we might be really upset, like when there’s a death in the family, we tend not to want to eat much because we are so upset. Presumably, the disciples of John the Baptist also fasted as part of their change of lifestyle or conversion in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.

Jesus’ reply shows that the joyful moment of the coming of the Messiah, the coming of the Kingship of God, has already burst upon them. It is a time not for mourning but for an explosion of joy. He appeals to the idea of the splendid wedding feast, to be celebrated when the sovereignty of God is completed and God’s love for his people sealed in a marriage bond.

But he adds the warning that a time is coming when the bridegroom will be taken away. Is he referring to his own passion and death, or to a time of seeming absence of Christ from his Church? Then comes a little group of images, perhaps sayings of Jesus originally independent, all teaching that our behaviour must be totally new: it is no good mixing new habits with old.

Fr Paul notes today’s Gospel Lesson – Any life, even the life of Jesus, is filled with ups and downs and confrontations but we must always remember that God loves us.