My dear brothers and sisters, in Christ, peace be with you. Today's readings at mass present us with one profound message that Christ came to free us not merely from external constraints or pain, but from the slavery that can exist within our own hearts. Saint Paul declares, “For freedom, Christ set us free. So stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Saint Paul here, my brothers and sisters, is addressing Christians who were being persuaded that besides believing in Christ, they needed to continue observing the prescriptions of the Mosaic law, particularly circumcision. To be justified before God. Don't forget that many of the early Christians were converts from Judaism. And yet Paul insists that salvation is not something we earn through religious observances. Now we can cooperate with the grace of God, through those observances that are handed down to us through the teaching authority of the church that Jesus, himself has instituted. But salvation is always a gift of God's grace.
And here's the key received. received. There needs to be our cooperation received through faith in Jesus Christ. So Jesus is the key that opens the doors of heaven for us. Without that key, we would never be able to enter into life everlasting. And so we need to be careful because a lot of people misunderstand Saint Paul. Saint Peter even said that his writings can be very difficult and many twist them and misunderstand them to their own peril (2 Peter 3:15–16). Because Saint Paul is not condemning the Jewish law itself, but he is warning against placing our confidence in external observances rather than in our loving relationship with Christ.
Because my brothers and sisters, we can keep all the exteriors and fail to love on the inside. We can be like those meticulous People at dinner who need to make sure that everything is set properly at the table, but the meal is prepared in frustration, in anger, without love. And Saint Paul tells us that “without love, We are nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). We can have all things, be all things, on the outside. But if I do not love in other words, if there is not that relationship with God inside my heart, Then all the exteriors are merely a shell, a shell with nothing on the inside no life on the inside of the shell.
My brothers and sisters, this is precisely where today's gospel completes Saint Paul's message. Jesus accepts an invitation to dine, to have dinner with a Pharisee at his house. A Pharisee who is astonished that Jesus does not perform the prescribed ritual of washing before eating. And Jesus responds by exposing a, much deeper problem. And he says, “although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish inside you are filled with plunder and evil” (Luke 11:39). Jesus is not condemning cleanliness or religious observance. He is challenging the dangerous illusion that outward religious correctness necessarily reflects inward holiness.
My brothers and sisters, we can attend mass daily. We can recite countless prayers, fast regularly, and observe every religious custom, yet remain imprisoned by pride, resentment, jealousy, greed, or a lack of charity? Think of how many good people you know in your life. People who are trying to go to Mass, to pray, and yet who are politically in inclined. to the extent that they begin to form An ideology against a certain group of people, whoever they may be, and forget even as people of prayer that Christ has commanded us to love even our enemy (Matthew 5:44). Now, either we're going to listen to Christ which will reflect a true relationship with him or we're going to continue to play around. On the one hand I'm religious I'm spiritual I'm trying to do good. On the other hand I give myself to these less holy inclinations. And so what we want to say today is make the leap of faith.
Saint Francis of Assisi offers us a beautiful example of this. As a young man he was captivated by wealth, fine clothing, social prestige, and dreams of becoming a knight. Outwardly, he appeared to have everything. But inwardly, he had not yet discovered the freedom that only Christ could give. My prayer for each and every one of us today, is that we are filled with this freedom that can only come from our continued investment in our relationship with Christ. As we spend more time with him, we ask him to give us a new heart, a heart which is contrite and humble and to grow in his merciful love.
In the name of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Go in peace.
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