The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to attend to inner motivations and justifications that may originate in our acquiescence to religious, cultural, and social rules that replace Faith and the Spirit in guiding our journey.
Faith for Life
In the reading from the Letter to the Galatians, Paul shares the Nature of Christian Freedom.
* [5:1–6] Paul begins the exhortations, continuing through Gal 6:10, with an appeal to the Galatians to side with freedom instead of slavery (Gal 5:1). He reiterates his message of justification or righteousness by faith instead of law and circumcision (Gal 5:2–5); cf. Gal 2:16; 3:3. Faith, not circumcision, is what counts (Gal 5:6).1
Psalm 119 proclaims the glories of God’s Law.
* [119:48] I lift up my hands to your commandments: to lift up the hands was an ancient gesture of reverence to God. Here the picture is applied to God’s law.2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus denounces the righteousness of Pharisees and Lawyers.
* [11:37–54] This denunciation of the Pharisees (Lk 11:39–44) and the scholars of the law (Lk 11:45–52) is set by Luke in the context of Jesus’ dining at the home of a Pharisee. Controversies with or reprimands of Pharisees are regularly set by Luke within the context of Jesus’ eating with Pharisees (see Lk 5:29–39; 7:36–50; 14:1–24). A different compilation of similar sayings is found in Mt 23 (see also notes there).3
Julie Kalkowski comments when rules become our top priority, they often get in the way of love.
We want to be good…to be good Christians. But sometimes we forget the reason Jesus came. He didn’t come to give us a new set of rules. Jesus came to teach us a new path, a new way of living. However, following rules can often seem a much easier path to God. We think: If we do X or Y or Z, we are good people and we will be loved more by our God. But that’s not how it works. Jesus wants us to follow God’s commandments, but not at the cost of our ability to love our neighbors.4
Don Schwager quotes “Acts of mercy are examples of almsgiving,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"What our Lord says, 'Give alms, and behold, all things are clean to you,' applies to all useful acts of mercy. It does not apply just to the one who gives food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, hospitality to the wayfarer or refuge to the fugitive. It also applies to one who visits the sick and the prisoner, redeems the captive, bears the burdens of the weak, leads the blind, comforts the sorrowful, heals the sick, shows the erring the right way, gives advice to the perplexed, and does whatever is needful for the needy. Not only does this person give alms, but the person who forgives the trespasser also gives alms as well. He is also a giver of alms who, by blows or other discipline, corrects and restrains those under his command. At the same time he forgives from the heart the sin by which he has been wronged or offended or prays that it be forgiven the offender. Such a person gives alms not only because he forgives and prays but also because he rebukes and administers corrective punishment, since in this he shows mercy... There are many kinds of alms. When we do them, we are helped in receiving forgiveness of our own sins." (excerpt from ENCHIRIDION 19.72)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Psalm 119:41, 43-45,47-48 comments on learning to play the flute that we willingly restrict our “freedom to do whatever we want” with the flute so that we could actually learn to play it skillfully.
When St. Paul says, “For freedom Christ set us free,” he is talking about that kind of freedom: the freedom to do something beautiful, the liberty to do what pleases the Lord (Galatians 5:1). God didn’t make us free so that we could ignore his commands; he knows they are what guide us to reach our full potential. They are what set us on the path of excellence... Love of God and love of our neighbors.6
Friar Jude Winkler comments that Paul contrasts slavery with freedom for the Galatians. Seeking righteousness by following the Law may separate us from Faith and Trust in Jesus. Friar Jude reminds us that we are judged by our love and compassion.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that both Thomas Aquinas and C. S. Lewis taught that the triumph of evil depends entirely on disguise. Our egos must see it as some form of goodness and virtue so that we can buy into it.
Consider the religious rationale for the “Doctrine of Discovery,” which justified the conquest of the Americas and the African slave-trade.… Evil finds its almost perfect camouflage in the silent agreements of the group when it appears personally advantageous. Such unconscious “deadness,” will continue to show itself in every age, I believe. This is why I can’t throw the word “sin” out entirely. If we do not see the true shape of evil or recognize how we are fully complicit in it, it will fully control us, while not looking the least like sin. Would “agreed-upon delusion” be a better description? We cannot recognize it or overcome it as isolated individuals, mostly because it is held together by the group consensus.7
We contemplate the dilemma of doing what we don’t want for insight into the laws and system rules that support our own ego and ignore the Spirit calling us to love.
References
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