On the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, the Gospel records the question about fasting (Mark 2:18–22): Jesus answers that the wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, and speaks of new wine that needs fresh wineskins. In The Mass Readings Explained, Dr. Brant Pitre walks through this Sunday's readings and shows how the riddle of the bridegroom points to Jesus' own identity.
Dr. Pitre unpacks the imagery of the Jewish wedding—a week of feasting, not fasting—and the ominous hint that the bridegroom will be taken away, alongside the sayings about new wine and new wineskins. He reads it with Hosea's promise that God will espouse Israel to himself forever (Hosea 2) and Paul's word that we are ministers of a new covenant of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3), tracing the theme of Jesus the bridegroom and the newness of the gospel.
GOSPEL, FIRST READING & PSALM TRANSCRIPT (Subscribe or Login for Full Transcript):
The 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time for Year B continues the Church's journey through the Gospel of Mark, bringing us to Chapter 2, the famous exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees about his disciples’ failure to fast, or their lack of practicing fasting I should say. So this is a really important text because in it Jesus uses the imagery of the bridegroom, a parable about the bridegroom to refer to himself and his disciples. So let's see what happens...
SECOND READING TRANSCRIPT (SubscribeorLoginfor Full Transcript):
The 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time for Year B continues the Church's journey through Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians, with a very important passage from Chapter 3 on Paul's self understanding, as what he calls a minister of the New Covenant. So let's take a look at the reading for today and ask ourselves, what exactly is new about the New Covenant, and what does this mean for who Paul is and who we are in Christ? 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 says this...
GOSPEL, FIRST READING & PSALM TRANSCRIPT (Subscribe or Login for Full Transcript):
The 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time for Year B continues the Church's journey through the Gospel of Mark, bringing us to Chapter 2, the famous exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees about his disciples’ failure to fast, or their lack of practicing fasting I should say. So this is a really important text because in it Jesus uses the imagery of the bridegroom, a parable about the bridegroom to refer to himself and his disciples. So let's see what happens...
SECOND READING TRANSCRIPT (SubscribeorLoginfor Full Transcript):
The 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time for Year B continues the Church's journey through Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians, with a very important passage from Chapter 3 on Paul's self understanding, as what he calls a minister of the New Covenant. So let's take a look at the reading for today and ask ourselves, what exactly is new about the New Covenant, and what does this mean for who Paul is and who we are in Christ? 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 says this...
Key passages & sources examined: the Lord who betroths his bride forever (Hosea 2; idolatry as infidelity); the Lord who is kind and merciful (Psalm 103); the question about fasting; Jesus' riddle of the bridegroom and the “sons of the bridal chamber”; the Jewish wedding as a week of feasting (cf. Genesis 29; Judges 14); the day the bridegroom is taken away; new wine and fresh wineskins; ministers of a new covenant of the Spirit; St. Augustine and Benedict XVI on the bridegroom.
What are the Mass readings for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B? Hosea 2:16b, 17b, 21–22; Psalm 103; 2 Corinthians 3:1b–6; and the Gospel, Mark 2:18–22.
Why don't Jesus' disciples fast? Because the bridegroom is still with them; Jesus identifies himself as the bridegroom whose presence is a wedding feast, not a time for fasting.
What do new wine and new wineskins mean? Jesus teaches that the newness of the gospel cannot be poured into old forms—fresh wine calls for fresh wineskins.
How does the reading from Hosea connect? Hosea depicts the Lord betrothing Israel to himself forever, an image the Church reads as fulfilled in Christ the bridegroom.
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This was another great and informative lecture on Catholic teachings concerning a Catholic belief not shared by our Christian brothers and sisters. And, like his other lectures on the Jewish Roots of our Faith, Dr. Pitre gives great insight using biblical texts, history and language lessons. But, this left me burning questions Dr. Pitre did not ask or answer: When, after death, is purgatory? Do our resurrected bodies partake in purgatory? If those who experience purgatory are saved then how does the doctrine of the beatific vision play into all this? Maybe these questions are answered in another lecture?
This was another great and informative lecture on Catholic teachings concerning a Catholic belief not shared by our Christian brothers and sisters. And, like his other lectures on the Jewish Roots of our Faith, Dr. Pitre gives great insight using biblical texts, history and language lessons. But, this left me burning questions Dr. Pitre did not ask or answer: When, after death, is purgatory? Do our resurrected bodies partake in purgatory? If those who experience purgatory are saved then how does the doctrine of the beatific vision play into all this? Maybe these questions are answered in another lecture?
