The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today celebrate our unity as brothers and sisters of Christ that transcends distinctions of race, culture, and gender.
The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Galatians declares what Faith has brought in there is no longer Jew or Greek.
* [3:23–29] Paul adds a further argument in support of righteousness or justification by faith and through God’s promise rather than by works of the law (Gal 2:16; 3:22): as children of God, baptized into Christ, the Galatians are all Abraham’s descendant and heirs of the promise to Abraham (Gal 3:8, 14, 16–18, 29). The teaching in Gal 3:23–25, that since faith (Christianity) has come, we are no longer under the law, could be taken with the previous paragraph on the role of the Mosaic law, but it also fits here as a contrast between the situation before faith (Gal 3:23) and the results after faith has come (Gal 3:25–29). (Galatians, CHAPTER 3, n.d.)
Psalm 105 praises God’s Faithfulness to Israel.
* [Psalm 105] A hymn to God who promised the land of Canaan to the holy people, cf. Ps 78; 106; 136. Israel is invited to praise and seek the presence of God (Ps 105:1–6), who is faithful to the promise of land to the ancestors (Ps 105:7–11). In every phase of the national story—the ancestors in the land of Canaan (Ps 105:12–15), Joseph in Egypt (Ps 105:16–22), Israel in Egypt (Ps 105:23–38), Israel in the desert on the way to Canaan (Ps 105:39–45)—God remained faithful, reiterating the promise of the land to successive servants. (Psalms, PSALM 105, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus teaches about true Blessedness.
* [11:27–28] The beatitude in Lk 11:28 should not be interpreted as a rebuke of the mother of Jesus; see note on Lk 8:21. Rather, it emphasizes (like Lk 2:35) that attentiveness to God’s word is more important than biological relationship to Jesus. (Luke, CHAPTER 11, n.d.)
Nicky Santos, S.J. comments that for the disciple, biological relationship to Jesus is not as important as believing in Jesus and his message and living it out (hear the word of God and observe it).
Ironically however, Jesus’ central message is that we are already his family, we are all God’s children, loved and cherished by God. And we are invited to love one another with that same unconditional love. But, as we know from experience and from the realities that surround us, this is not easy. We struggle with relating to all others as also God’s children, as our own brothers and sisters. Even within our own biological families we might have difficulty relating to others who don’t share our ideological or political viewpoint.
Let us pray for God’s grace this day that our hearts might be transformed, that we might indeed hear the word of God and observe it in our thoughts and actions. (Santos, 2022)
Don Schwager quotes “Blessings for hearing and keeping the Word,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Mary was more blessed in accepting the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. To someone who said, 'Blessed is the womb that bore you,' he replied, 'Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.' Finally, for his brothers, his relatives according to the flesh who did not believe in him, of what advantage was that relationship? Even her maternal relationship would have done Mary no good unless she had borne Christ more happily in her heart than in her flesh." (excerpt from HOLY VIRGINITY 3.1) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Galatians 3:22-29 comments that Paul is not suggesting that Christians become robots who always smile and never have a disagreement. That would leave out Paul himself, a man who had more than his share of disputes! And he had years of experience in building up churches, so he learned firsthand that the body of Christ is made up of very different people, each with unique temperaments and gifts. What Paul is emphasizing here is not a unity based on everyone being the same but a unity founded on the love of God and the presence of the Spirit.
So reflect for a moment on how you can bring the peace of the Lord into your family or among the people closest to you. You could make a point of gathering and praying a decade of the Rosary together. Parents and grandparents could call one of their adult children or grandchildren to pray with them. You could read Scripture together and pick one verse to think about throughout the day. And of course, whether you live with your family or not, you can pray for them—and yourself—to grow in love and respect for one another. The Holy Spirit himself wants to guide us, so let’s invite him in!
“Holy Spirit, come alive in my family! Make us one.” (Meditation on Galatians 3:22-29, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that Paul is explaining how the Law served as a guide to keep us out of trouble and Faith unites us in Christ. The beatitude expressed in Luke is not against Mary who trusted that The Incarnate Word was born from her womb. Friar Jude reminds us that our unity is in faith and not biology.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the word “respect” means “to look at a second time”: Re-speculate. Re-spect. Our first gaze at anything is always utilitarian, and it almost totally takes over after a while. We tend to think, “What’s in it for me? What can I get out of it? How can I make money from it? Does this make me look good? Will this give me pleasure?” If we don’t recognize the narrowness and the emptiness of that gaze, it will keep us forever at the center of a very small world.
Mystics like Francis see an equivalence between the seer and the seen. They grant respect to all that is outside of themselves. They allow it to speak. At one of our conferences, we sent some of the attendees down to the Rio Grande. We said, “We want you to find one particular object, not the whole landscape, but one leaf, one twig, one lizard, and grant it respect. Talk to it.” And then, even more daringly, in that state of respect, we asked them to let it talk back. I’m sure that was difficult for educated people. They were probably afraid someone would see them or hear them. (Rohr, n.d.)
We can strive for the unity made possible in Christ as we attend to the Spirit speaking in the Word.
References
Galatians, CHAPTER 3. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/galatians/3?22
Luke, CHAPTER 11. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/11?27
Meditation on Galatians 3:22-29. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/10/08/507541/
Psalms, PSALM 105. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/105?2
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/franciscan-mysticism-2022-10-08/
Santos, N. (2022, October 7). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/100822.html
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Hear the Word of God and Keep It. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=oct8
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