January 15, 2024 — Monday, Second Week in Ordinary Time — The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart — Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mk 2: 18-22)

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,

“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered them,

“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”