Go beyond the attitude that says, “that’s the way it has always been done”
They are unable to discern, embrace and value the surprises of the Holy Spirit. Their hearts are “closed.”
Jan 29, 2016

ROME: They are unable to discern, embrace and value the surprises of the Holy Spirit. Their hearts are “closed.” They will never discover the complete truth because they “worship themselves” and are rebels. These are the Christians who do not deviate from the attitude that claims “that’s the way it has always been done,” Pope Francis commented on this at the morning Mass in St Martha’s House on Jan 18.
The Pope took his cue from the First Reading of the day, which recounts God’s dismissal of Saul as King of Israel because he prefers to listen to the people more than to God’s will, thus disobeying Him. Having been victorious in combat, the people wish to offer a sacrifice to the Lord sparing the best of the sheep and cattle. Their main motivation for doing so, is that “that’s the way it’s always been done.” But this time, God does not want it. So, the Prophet Samuel replies: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord?”
“This is what Jesus teaches us in the Gospel.” In other words: the doctors of the law criticise Him because His disciples do not fast as per tradition, to which Christ replies: “if we base our life on this principle: no one sews a rough piece of fabric onto an old piece of clothing because the new patch ruins the old material, worsening the tear; and no one pours new wine into old wine-skins or the wine breaks the wineskins so that both wine and wineskins are lost. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins!” What does this mean? “That the law changes? No!” the Pope explains. “That the law is at the service of man and man is at the service of God, therefore, man must have an open heart. To say: ‘that’s the way it’s always been done’ is to have a closed heart and Jesus says to us: ‘When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.’ If your heart is closed to the newness of the Spirit, you will never discover the complete truth and your Christian life will be a life half lived, patched up and mended with new things, added onto a structure that is not open to the voice of the Lord. Your heart is closed because you fail to replace the wineskins.”
“This,” Francis highlighted, “is the sin of many Christians who cling on to customary ways of doing things and, in so doing, do not allow old wineskins to be replaced with new ones. And they end up with a life half lived, patched together, mended and meaningless.”
Francis clarified: sin “is a closed heart” that does not listen to the voice of the Lord, that is not open to the newness of the Lord, to the Spirit that always surprises us. For Samuel, rebellion is a “sin of divination,” while obstinacy equates to idolatry.
Christians who “insist on following the ‘that’s the way it’s always been done’ mantra, saying to themselves ‘this is the way forward,’ end up sinning: they commit the sin of divination.” Francis said it is as if “they went to a fortune-teller. What was said and does not change is more important; what I and my closed heart feel is more important than the Word of the Lord.” Obstinate Christians also sin! They commit the sin of idolatry. So ‘which path should I follow, Father?’ Open your heart to the Holy Spirit, discern what God’s will is.”
Francis continued by saying: “It was customary in Jesus’ time for the Israelites to fast. But then there is the Holy Spirit, which steers us towards the full truth. This is why He needs people to have open hearts, hearts that are not obstinately absorbed in the sin of self-worship, believing that what they think is more important than the surprise the Holy Spirit has in store for us.”
This is the message “the Church gives to us today. This is what Jesus stresses: ‘pour new wine into new wineskins.’ Even old habits must change, if we are to make room for the newness of the Spirit and the surprises God has in store for us.”
The Pope ended with the following wish: “May the Lord grant you the grace of an open heart, a heart that is open to the voice of the Spirit that is able to discern what must remain unchanged, because it constitutes a cornerstone and what must change in order to make us receptive to the newness of the Holy Spirit.” -- La Stampa
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