Paper and Person

 

Appreciating the efforts of Martin Luther King Jr

today

01/19/2026

Mark 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.”

Do you know what a watermark is? You probably don’t know if you don’t know what paper is (and some youngsters may not). One definition of a watermark states: “a faint design made in some paper during manufacture that is visible when held against the light and typically identifies the maker.” And it is usually found on fancy and expensive paper. In other words, you only use paper with a watermark if you have something extremely valuable or important to write on it. Watermarks are not found on post-it notes.

Well, there is a very faint but fine watermark on every page of the Bible. And when you hold the pages of Sacred Scripture up to the light of faith, you suddenly see the Eucharist in the background. And of course the Eucharist identifies the Maker of the paper (the Bible) and the Maker of everything else. The divine Author, the Holy Spirit, has used his human styluses to write the most important and valuable words ever written: the story of salvation.

If we hold up today’s gospel pericope from Mk 2:18-22 to the light of faith, we can catch that hidden watermark of the Eucharist on this page of holy writ. There are three clues that should illuminate this page and reveal the elusive watermark. First, the question of fasting, second, the metaphor of the bridegroom, and third, the consequences of pouring wine into unworthy wineskins.

How do these 3 clues help us discern the watermark of the Eucharist? First, we know we should fast for an hour before receiving Holy Communion. That rule of discipline is not arbitrary or superficial, but intended to teach us a spiritual lesson: not to fill ourselves with the things of this world – represented by food – so we will be hungry for the things of heaven.

Have you ever gorged yourself on the chips and salsa that you were not hungry for the main course? Me too. Like the most interesting man in the world says in those commercials captures the point of fasting: “Stay thirsty, my friends.” That is, fast from this world to stay hungry and thirsty for the other-worldly main course, the Eucharist.

Second, Jesus offers the sublime metaphor of the Bridegroom at a wedding. The Scriptures are essentially a story of love, marriage, and consummation. All the inspired authors pick up on this theme to some degree or other, but none more than St. John, especially in his glorious gospel and the dramatic book of Revelation.

John becomes explicit in connecting the Bridegroom and the Eucharist in Rv 19:9, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Jesus).” At every Eucharist, therefore, the Bridegroom – Jesus the Lamb – feed us with the wedding cake of Holy Communion.

Third, the new wine refers to the New Testament, the coming of Christ. Whereas, the old wineskins means the Old Testament which is utterly incapable of containing the grace and glory that Jesus ushers in. The new wine will burst the old wineskins as indeed Jesus’ coming spelled ruin for the old dispensation.

The catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem and its iconic Temple, therefore, symbolized the old wineskins, as well as the people who put their faith in it. Consequently, wherever you find the new Wine of the Eucharist, you find the new Temple of Jesus’ Body, in effect the new wineskins.

There is another important watermark we should watchout for, an imprint that speaks of its Maker. This watermark is not found embossed on expensive paper but etched on each human person. Gn 1:27 teaches us that “God created man in his own image (a watermark), male and female he created them.”

In other words, if you were to old a human person up to the light of faith you would see an imprint on him or her that points to his or her Maker. Of course we know that the watermark on the paper of the Bible and the watermark on each person point to the same loving and wise Maker, namely, God.

Today the United States observes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day as a national holiday. It is important that we observe this day because for far too long this nation (individually and collectively) has missed the second watermark on each human person, especially that blessed watermark on African Americans.

We treated them as second-class citizens in our laws, our language, and our social customs of separate bathrooms and seating on busses. Jim Walls famously called racism in our country, “America’s Original Sin.” And he is right. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr advocated for equal right through non-violence, like the great Liberator of India, Mahatma Gandhi.

And the true beauty and ultimate effectiveness of non-violent resistance to racism is that it does not fail to see the watermark in both white and black persons. There can be no doubt that Dr. King learned to see the watermark on each human person because he first discovered the same watermark on every page of the Bible.

Praised be Jesus Christ!