2026-09-04 - Do not let yesterday's wineskin contain today's Grace Author: Fr. Camillus Nwaigwe
4th of September 2026
Friday in the Twenty Second Week of Ordinary Time Year II
1Cor 4:1-5
Lk 5:33-39
In the Gospel Reading of today Jesus says, "No one puts new wine into old wineskins."
We must note here that the problem is not that the old wineskin was always bad. It had served its purpose. The problem is that it had become incapable of carrying something new.
Beloved, there are things in our lives that were useful yesterday but may no longer be sufficient for what God is asking of us today. Yesterday’s experience, yesterday’s successes, yesterday's disappointments, yesterday's way of thinking, even yesterday's understanding of ourselves, can become an old wineskin. Sometimes God is pouring new grace into our lives, but we are trying to receive it with an old heart.
The Christian life is a life of continual renewal. God does not want us imprisoned by our past. Peter had an old understanding of himself, a fisherman who had failed after trying all night. Yet when Jesus spoke, he had to move beyond yesterday's experience, "We have toiled all night and caught nothing; but at your word I will let down the nets." The grace of today required Peter to trust beyond the disappointment of yesterday.
Friends, do you know that we can preserve yesterday so tightly that we leave no room for tomorrow's grace? A person who has been hurt may build a wineskin of distrust and then reject genuine love when it comes. Someone who has failed may build a wineskin of fear and refuse another opportunity. Someone who has succeeded may build a wineskin of pride and become incapable of learning. Even in the Church, we can become so attached to familiar methods and structures that we fail to recognise new ways through which the Holy Spirit is working.
God's grace is always fresh. The challenge is whether our hearts are flexible enough to receive it. Do not let yesterday's wounds determine today's relationships. Do not let yesterday's failure determine today's courage. Do not let yesterday's success determine today's attitude. And do not let yesterday's experience put limits on what God can do today. Sometimes, before God can pour new wine into us, He must first make us into new wineskins.
Today, ask yourself: What old attitude, fear, resentment, prejudice, habit or way of thinking has become an old wineskin in me? And am I willing to let Christ renew it?
God bless you
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