Tuesday of the
Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
(Galatians 5:1-6; Luke 11:37-41)
Jazz has been called “musician’s music.” Although it may sound undisciplined, it is
not for beginners. Rather jazz players
have practiced for years so that their improvisation sounds natural and the
notes they strike, just right. That is
like the freedom that St. Paul has in mind in the first reading.
Paul is lecturing the Galatians about the pitfalls of
taking on the Jewish law. He finds them
being deceived by the so-called Judaizers saying that they must practice the
Law to please God. He knows that
perfection does not come from vain attempts to fulfill the Law’s hundreds of
prescriptions. No, he tells them that Christ
has set them free of the Law so that they can love freely. He means that they might do random acts of
kindness above and beyond the demands of justice.
In Christ’s freedom we do not ask, “What is the minimum I
have to do to be saved?” Rather we are
moved by the Holy Spirit to care for others in numerous ways. We find such kindness as hardly burdensome because
we have Christ with us.
