Word to the Wise
Friday, October 11, 2024 - Friday in the 27th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gal 3:7-14 and Luke 11:15-26]Realize that it is those who have faith who are children of Abraham. Scripture, which saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, foretold the good news to Abraham, saying, Through you shall all the nations be blessed. Consequently, those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham who had faith.....Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. [Galatians]
OCTOBER 11 [St. John XXIII]
St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians is a passionate document. He had heard that Jewish Christian missionaries had come to that community after he had founded it and preached that to become a Christian one had to be a Jew first, which meant observance of the Mosaic Law, including circumcision!! The Letter to the Galatians is a strong rejection of that position. The matter was finally resolved at the "Council of Jerusalem" [Acts 15]. The approach that finally prevailed was the Pauline one that enabled Christianity to expand throughout the Roman Empire and Middle East. Some writers have referred to St. Paul as the "second founder of Christianity!"
The tension between faith and observance did not end with the Council of Jerusalem. It just took another form. Certain customs and traditions surrounding the sacraments can take on the character of law so that failure to observe them meansf to some folks the sacrament itself is not "valid." St. Paul reminds us that it is FAITH that justifies the observance and not the other way around. A modern example of this might be found in what happened during the COVID epidemic. When people were truly unable to gather for the Eucharist, the "act of spiritual communion" (the very desire, born of faith, to receive communion) would suffice. Watching Mass on TV and saying one or another form of that prayer of desire gave expression to faith.
Particular observances are meant to enable the expression of faith, not to control it. Uniformity is important to avoid group chaos and foster a common identity as a matter of practice, but there are dangers to be avoided in rigid observance. The theological virtue of Faith suffers mightily unless it is enabled by the moral (cardinal) virtue of prudence! AMEN