THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN


MONDAY, TWENTY EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIMEE

Gal 4:22-24,26-27,31-5:1; Ps 113:1-7; Lk 11:29-32

Entering Our Freedom in Jesus Christ

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul tried to clarify the difference between a Law-driven devotion and worship of God and a grace- or Christ-centred devotion and worship. The difference lies in what our minds and hearts focus on. When we focus on obeying the Law, interest is on ourselves; we want to satisfy our desire to appear righteous and to sound so when we talk. We compare ourselves to others, and we approve our religion or devotion because we judge ourselves as making more effort, it would seem, than others. For these, concern about the Law bespeaks self and does not show a desire to serve God. Such focus on the Law and obedience to its maxims blinds us to the presence of Jesus Christ, the divine mercy he makes abundant for us, and the overflowing grace of redemption he puts in our possession. If we keep the Law of God by our efforts, then what is the purpose of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross? What need have we of the redemption he won for us? These are the questions Paul put to the Galatians, deceived by the devil through the Judaizers, to fall back to the practice of Judaism in place of the Christian faith they have already received.

He used the allegory of Abraham’s two wives to show how the Law enslaves, and how God liberates us through his grace. “The Law says, if you remember, that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by his free-born wife. The child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary way; the child of the free woman was born as the result of a promise.” Our efforts to live and obey the Law in our ordinary daily lives locate us among the enslaved children of Abraham, progenies of the slave-girl. But our faith in Jesus Christ, our trust in his saving death on the Cross of Calvary, and confidence in the promise of eternal life he made to us, place us among the free children of Abraham, who will inherit God’s promise. “This can be regarded as an allegory: the women stand for the two covenants. The first, who comes from Mount Sinai, and whose children are slaves, is Hagar. The Jerusalem above, however, is free and is our mother.” The Church is the Sacrament of this heavenly Jerusalem, bearing her children through the baptismal confession of faith in Jesus Christ, to inherit Christ’s Spirit of holiness. To be born of the Holy Spirit is to die to the Law and live in Jesus Christ, doing the will of God as revealed daily by the Holy Spirit. Our focus should be on Jesus Christ, in whose life we now live.

Our faith in the real presence of Jesus Christ implies that he shares our lives and conditions. Our love for Jesus Christ, which the Holy Spirit renews daily in our hearts, ought to motivate every one of our actions. We must never desire to possess our own holiness, for Christ’s holiness is ours now, through our profession of faith in him. To long for self-righteousness is to reject what Christ has offered us on the Cross of Calvary. It is to refuse to attend the wedding banquet of God’s Only Begotten Son on the pretence that we are busy with our own engagements; it is to attend and not enter with the wedding garment the great king had prepared for all invitees. Our Lord judged the people wicked for demanding more signs to believe in him. “This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” The Son of Man is a sign of God’s graciousness to us, sinners. The Father has provided everything we need for a good life and holiness according to his divine will, not by our own reckoning, by giving us his Son to appear in our human nature. This definite and final revelation of the Father’s will fulfils his promise to set a banquet of rich food and finest wines on the mountain for all peoples and nations. Let us rejoice and praise his holy name. “Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! May the name of the Lord be blessed both now and for evermore!”

Let us pray: May your grace, O Lord, we pray, at all times go before us and follow after and make us always determined to carry out good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.    

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