Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

This week the Church begins a lectio continua, that is, a continuous reading through St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians. A few verses and passages are left out, but this practice of carrying on a liturgical reading of the Scriptures from day to day is actually something that was done in the early church and especially in monasteries. It gives a sense of the integrity of the sacred text, and it gives room for God to speak all of his words to his children. (see Michael Casey, Sacred Reading, p. 7)

Today’s reading from Galatians (1:6-12) skips Paul’s greeting (just as Paul skipped writing the customary thanksgiving) and begins stating the purpose of his letter: Paul is amazed that his new converts are already falling for a different Gospel (not that there is another). He has come to know of some others who are perverting the Gospel of Christ. These others (perhaps Jewish converts to Christianity) are telling the recent converts that faith in Jesus Christ and participation in his baptism is not sufficient. They must submit to the requirements of the Mosaic Law, as well, in order to be justified. On top of this, these others were undermining Paul’s authority as an apostle, perhaps because he was not one of the Twelve who were with Jesus from the beginning. In order to save his friends from trying to justify themselves under the law, Paul begins defending his election as an apostle and the divine origin of the Gospel he received. For the Gospel he preached to them “is not of human origin…it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Gal 1:11-12) Moreover, he is an apostle “not from human beings nor through a human being but through Jesus Christ…” (Gal 1:1).

Just think of how many messages we receive each day and from whom: advertisements from businesses, headlines from various news sources, social media posts by friends and strangers, e-mails from work, and subscriptions (like this one!). Most messages do not move us to action or affect us at a deep level. Some messages, though, can have a powerful influence over us, how we view a person, or even the world. We ought to pause once in a while and question what we have come to believe about big things and small. There is such a thing as healthy doubt, for the purpose of arriving at the truth.

Reflection by Br. Luke Kral, OSB