In Galatians 3: 22-29, Paul is teaching us “the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Freedom is a major issue with Paul. He proclaims that Jesus has set us free from: 

• the culture of this world and its discriminatory categories of race, nationality, and social class by making us all children of God (Galatians 1:4; 3:28; Colossians 3:11);    

• sin by empowering us to live by the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the favor of sharing in the divine life of God (Acts 13:39; Romans 6:18); 

• death by giving us eternal life (Hebrews 2:15; 8:21); 

• the law by freeing us to judge all things by the mind of Christ, intent on union of mind and heart and will with him rather than on rigid rules of external behavior (Galatians 2:4; 5:1, 13; Romans 8:2, 1Corinthians 9:21);     

• fear by removing our fear of death and of being judged only by our moral performance (Hebrews 2:15; Romans 8:15; anxieties 1Corinthians 7:32). 

The basic choice Paul proposes is either to “clothe ourselves with Christ” by being baptized into living union with him, acquiring the “mind of Christ” through the gift of faith and the indwelling Spirit of God, or be enslaved to the blinding, myopic narrowness of a worldview restricted to the perspective of this life only and of religious laws. (2Corinthians 3: 6-18; 4: 4-6.) 

Paul calls us the “heirs” of Abraham’s spirit of faith. This, and the freedom that comes with it, is our heritage. We are charged, as faithful “stewards of God’s mysteries,” to preserve it against Phariseeism in every generation that would enslave us in a legalism focused on blind conformism. 

This is the lesson also of Luke 11: 27-28, in which a woman declared Mary blessed for being the biological mother of a son like Jesus: “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” 

Jesus doesn’t contradict this, but he calls us to focus on the real blessing, both of Mary and of all who benefit by the “fruit of her womb”: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” 

We need to remember this when we defend all the rules and practices that we grew up with and cling to them because they are for us visible symbols of our identity as “Catholics.” Being Catholic is a blessing for us in the measure that it makes us more able to “hear the word of God and obey it!” If it does not do this, all the rest is illusion. 

The Responsorial (Psalm 105) focuses us on relationship with God: “The Lord remembers his covenant forever.”  

Prayer Prompt: Pray over the responsorial psalm for today. Perhaps consider how you might preserve freedom through focus on union with Jesus.  

— Fr. David M. Knight

View today’s Mass readings, Lectionary #466, on the USCCB website here

Fr. David M. Knight (1931-2021) was a priest of the Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee, a prolific writer, and a highly sought after confessor, spiritual director, and retreat master. He authored more than 40 books and hundreds of articles that focus primarily on lay spirituality and life-long spiritual growth.