Join Msgr. Don Fischer as he reads and delivers a short reflection on today’s gospel, followed by 3 1/2 minutes of contemplative music and a closing prayer. Msgr. Don hopes that today’s reflection on the gospel will empower you to carry the Word in your heart throughout the day.

Gospel Matthew 9:14-15
The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."

Reflection
There’s a beautiful image of a wedding in this reading, and it's about the union of the God-man, Jesus with humanity. And it's a celebration. Fasting is usually considered to be giving up something that you enjoy. People enjoy a wedding feast, so that may be part of it, but there's much more. And what's more is that there is a way in which this gospel leads us to understand that fasting is grieving the absence of goodness when Jesus is no longer there.
So think about it this way. One of the things you see in the world is a lot of pain and suffering, and sometimes you just look at it and get depressed instead of grieving it. And grieving has to do with somehow mourning the fact that this is the way life is, it’s intended to have this, God allows evil in the world.
So open your heart to what he's trying to teach us. The bridegroom is with you. He is there to help you, to integrate all that the world is and to find peace.

The Closing Prayer
Father, You have given us hope, grace, love. Help us to embrace these things in the midst of all that isn’t that. So that we can find peace in a world that is continually becoming what you intended it to be. And we ask this in Jesus name.

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