Today’s second reading is one of the most controversial and misunderstood in Christianity. However, if we understand it, then we truly understand who we are and what we do. This reading defines why Catholics are at odds with the progressive movements in this country and why we did not join Martin Luther in 1517. Understanding it is difference between glorifying ourselves and Glorifying God through Jesus Christ
The focus of the reading is how we are saved, is it by living by the ancient laws given to the Jews which people were teaching the Galatians or by faith in Jesus Christ—By the way, Paul was so angry at the people teaching this that he makes a statement in the Bible that is not suitable for a family audience—The other side is can we be saved simply by being baptized and nothing more. The answer to both questions is No.
First let us understand the concept of Salvation by the Jewish Law.
The Jews encountered what we can call external grace. It is the law of God given through Moses and the prophets by living the law they find the wisdom of God. However, St. Paul reminds us that this only applies to us if we are successful in living the law by our own strength. So if we seek to live the law and fail, we will not be saved. This is the reason why Paul says to the Christians do not use the law as the standard for salvation, if you do, you will end up in Hell by the same law you embrace, because our hope is in our efforts to live the law, not in Christ. I will explain that in a minute.
The other form of grace is internal grace. That is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit writes the external law internally on our heart and works to assist us to conform to that law. The more we live that law, the more we grow in grace.
How does this all work?
First Paul describes the Jewish Law as an instrument of death for Christians, how does that happen?
Let me illustrate this. There was an article recently about a young college student who broke a law in North Korea by trying to steal a poster and was sentenced to fifteen years in a prison camp. He actually broke two laws, one is the law of common sense. Do not go on vacation in North Korea. It is a bizarre country led by a crazy, evil regime comprised of crazy, evil people.
Lets us look at the other law. The law is simple, do not steal in or out of North Korea. It only applies if you break it, and if you break it you suffer the consequences. The law is an instrument of death because ultimately when broken, it leads to prison and in the spiritual world eternal condemnation, unless God intervenes. However, it only comes to play when it is broken. If the law is never broken, it does not come into play.It is kind of like piranha: scary fish that will kill you in seconds, but if you are not swimming in the Amazon, they cannot hurt you. The concerns and fears you may have about being attacked by a school of piranha do not apply to you because you do not swim in the Amazon. The law is the same way. It will bring great sanctions upon you, but only if you break it, if you never break the law, it is as if it did not even exist. So if you can live the law perfectly, then you will not die. But if you break one element of it, the only tool the law has spiritually is that you suffer the consequences of sin plus what you suffer in the Earthly world. So the law is an instrument of death.
Jesus saves us from the law by giving us the law of grace through his death and resurrection. Let us imagine you are driving home along Soldier’s Field Road in Allston. There is a traffic light there just west of WBZ. It is three in the morning and even at a busy time that light is not always important, but at three in the morning you can expect you will sit there with hardly any traffic in any direction. In fact, it is not unusual for certain law enforcement officials to go through the red arrow and make a u-turn there, as the State Police barracks is right behind you.
Do you go through the red light knowing otherwise you will sit on a virtually abandoned road at three a.m? If you choose to break the law, with the belief that there is not a car around, you have broken the law and you are subject to a penalty if you are caught, which besides a ticket, also means a huge increase in your insurance. However, if you choose to sit there as an act of service to God, by choosing to be obedient to the authorities and using that obedience in service to Christ, you will not only sit there until the light turns green; it will be an avenue of grace for you and you will never, ever get a ticket. It is because you are not living the law, you are serving Christ. You sit there as an exercise in serving Christ and growing in holiness. Now the law is not a blunt instrument of misery, because in your case, it does not even apply. It is like you are in the Amazon, but on a riverboat. You are living on a different level than the piranha live. They cannot hurt you. You choose your situation on a higher standard than the law:the path to holiness: Glorifying God through Jesus Christ.
You are saved by grace, the law is not even a factor anymore, for you act out of love of neighbor and God as directed internally by the Holy Spirit of Christ.
Now here is the issue. If you reject God, then all you have is the law and the only tool the law has is your misery and condemnation.
Today, people who reject God now put laws together to force you to follow a different path. However, again, if you live your life in service to Christ you may be subject to Earthly problems, but your eternal life is guaranteed, while those who force you to live by that law will never see salvation for they do not live by grace, but by law whose only tool is death.
So our Christian life is really about making everything we do an act of service to Christ, and so all we do glorifies God to the best of our ability and the law does not apply because it is a lower standard that what we live. If we do commit sin, we have the sacrament of Confession which pulls brings us back to grace and out of the jurisdiction of the law.
If we break any Earthly law in service to Christ, we may go through a painful time, but we have the promise of salvation. The eternal law that has death as its only sanction again does not apply.
How do we know that we are living the law of grace and not the law of death. Remember this simple equation. W+w=S. It was taught by St. Maximilian Kolbe1. The principle was taught by all the saints. Make God’s will your will and you will find salvation. Do not focus on trying to live the law. Focus and pray that God will form you to live by his vision for your life and you will live in wisdom, grace and holiness; then the law has no effect on you at all and you will be saved and save others in the process.
How do you do this? Pray for the grace to live as God wants you to live. Accept whatever happens to you as sent to you with God’s permission for your growth in holiness and that of others. Ask God to show you the path He wants you to follow and engage in staying close to the sacraments and in regular prayer, bible study and good spiritual reading. Let all of that form you into the person who chooses to serve God at every turn.
This will lead you to friendship with God and your salvation even if it makes your life difficult here by default. If your life is difficult here, it is because the world is ruled by the law of death. Those who obey that law, die, you will have eternal life. What is that law: Do whatever glorifies you. What is the law of grace, Do whatever glorifies God.
This is what Paul is talking about. We do not live by laws, but we live in a way that glorifies God which is a higher standard than living by the law.
God bless you,
Fr. Robert J Carr
Fr. Carr is member of the Segundo Elo of the Canção Nova Community. He is the pastor of Holy Trinity Quincy, MAand is the editor of this blog. He is the author of several books, blogs and hundreds of videos all of which you may find on Youtube. You can follow him on twitter as @frbobcarr and on Google plus as+FrRobertCarr. Thoughts, comments on the homily? Let us know at Facebook
1 Gaitley, Fr. Michael, 33 Days to Morning Glory, 2011:Marian Press; Stockbridge, MA