CALLED TO FREEDOM

XIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Galatians 5:1,13-18

We are called to freedom. Once, we were enslaved under the dominion of sin and evil, but Jesus Christ has redeemed us and set us free. So we should remain free. Why go back under the yoke of slavery? We are free because we were born from above as God’s children. We carry in us the image of God, who is the source of freedom.

What does it mean that we are called to freedom? Is it a cry of independence which is affirmed and demonstrated in an attitude of rebellion? Do we declare and exercise our freedom by turning our backs on God or by an effort to take his place? Do we exercise our freedom when we establish our own rules to allow the satisfaction of our urges? Is it true freedom to do whatever we are able to do, making our standards of good and evil?

Paul warns us that we must be careful in the way we understand and live our freedom, otherwise “this liberty will provide an opening for self-indulgence (the flesh).” If we do so, we care only about the satisfaction of our needs and are ready to put others at our service, depriving them of their freedom. Paul invites us to “serve one another, rather, in works of love”. The freedom that we received from Christ allows us to be at the service of others. To keep our freedom as children of God, we must be always on the alert because we are easily moved by selfishness and motivated by a lust for power, wealth and pleasure.

We may understand freedom as having no rules at all or making of my needs the rule that everybody else must respect. As a consequence, we only have rights and no duties or we have rights over the others and they have duties to us. Nothing else is sacred but what I decided to be right. When we behave like that, we end up being enslaved by self-indulgence.

Then, it is no surprise that a lot of people make a fuss about abortion. For many, abortion has been enthroned as a woman’s right, thus nobody may dare to question her decision or even suggest that the human being in her womb deserves some respect. According to them, a woman has rights over her body. But does she have the right to cut an arm or a leg? She would be put in a mental hospital. The child grows in her womb but has a body of his own. The child in her womb is not a thing that can be disposed of at will. It is a human being with a life of his own. Since when do we have the right to kill a human being?

In annulling the Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court did not abolish the right to abortion but it recognised that it is not the role of the Court to make laws and that abortion must be regulated by laws passed through the elected bodies of the different States of the Union. The supreme justices decided that "the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion" and that "the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade)

The outcry comes from a total disrespect for life and the mystery of life, where nothing is sacred but my interests.

We are called to live in thanksgiving for the gift of life, putting ourselves at the service of others. “Serve one another, rather, in works of love, since the whole of the Law is summarised in a single command: Love your neighbour as yourself.”

ALL OF YOU ARE ONE IN CHRIST JESUS

XII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Galatians 3:26-29

Paul always surprises us, as he can summarise in a few words essential aspects of the Christian experience. Salvation can only be attained through faith in Jesus Christ, not through obedience to the Law. When Paul speaks of the Law, he refers to the law that upholds the Old Covenant, with circumcision as its seal; he is not speaking of the commandments which we must keep to be true disciples of Jesus. The circumcision of the flesh is powerless and does nothing for our salvation. It is through faith in Jesus Christ that we become children of God. The faith in Jesus is affirmed and celebrated in the baptism. Being born of water and the Spirit, “all baptised in Christ” are clothed in Christ. In baptism, they become one in Christ. And what is the result of this union with Christ in the baptism? We are redeemed and set free. Belonging to Christ, we are the posterity of Abraham. We are the new People of God built up of free people and within these people, all have the same dignity. No more discrimination:

“and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

Paul established the basic principle that has guided the process of liberation and equality among people. Slave and free, male and female have the same dignity and are one in Christ. Slavery and discrimination existed in all cultures and civilisations of the past, be it in Europe, Asia, Africa and America. In the past, the prisoners of war would become slaves; and the same fate would fall on those who could not pay their debts. And it was common practice to conduct raids in neighbouring tribes to capture slaves that would be sold in the market and many times taken to distant lands. Only the civilisations that looked to Christ and listened to Paul were able to discover the evilness of slavery and put a stop to it. The principles put forward by Paul have led to a new awareness of human dignity that makes it possible to combat all kinds of discrimination.

May the Lord Jesus guide us with His Spirit for us to recognise him in our brothers and sisters.

THE MYSTERY OF GOD - FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT

SOLEMNITY OF HOLY TRINITY - Romans 5:1-5

Immediately after the celebration of Pentecost, we enter the common time in which we live and celebrate the ordinary life, that is the life everybody lives as we go on our journey to eternity.

Celebrating everyday life, we must celebrate God, proclaiming with the psalmist:

“How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!” (Ps 8:1).

Whenever we speak of God, we are faced with the mystery of God, whom we cannot live without, even though we are always unable to describe and explain. Before God, we are called to be on a constant search. We must be seekers, who never get tired of seeking the face of God:

You have said, “Seek my face.”

My heart says to you,

“Your face, Lord, do I seek.” (Ps 27:8).

To the ones who seek God’s face, He gives wisdom and knowledge and allows his light to shine on them, filling their hearts with joy and love. Indeed, “the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us.” (Ro 5:5).

Reading through the Scriptures, we discover that God can’t live or be without relationships, because he is relationship by nature. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is Yahweh, the God who affirms himself by his presence among people to save and liberate them. There is no other God but Yahweh. There is only one God. We Christians are monotheists, we believe there is only one God. But the God we believe in - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - Yahweh - is love, and love is relationship. In his relationship, God reveals himself as Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, who are one God. We call the mystery of God - the Holy Trinity. It does not mean that we believe in three gods, but in one God who is communion. Created in the image of God, we are called to love. Indeed, God has poured his love into our hearts. Thus, we are called to communion. And our lives will only become meaningful when we are open to others and pour love on others in God’s manner. We are called to be God’s family, united in love, being one with Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. The Holy Spirit is moulding our hearts from within for us to be able to live in peace and build up the body of Christ.

Let us pray with the psalm 8:

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,

  the moon and the stars which you arranged,

what is man that you should keep him in mind,

  mortal man that you care for him?

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

Yet you have made him little less than a god;

  with glory and honour you crowned him,

gave him power over the works of your hand,

  put all things under his feet.

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

All of them, sheep and cattle,

  yes, even the savage beasts,

birds of the air, and fish

  that make their way through the waters.

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

SEND FORTH YOUR SPIRIT, O LORD, AND RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH

SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST - Acts 2:1-11

It happened fifty days after Easter when the Jews celebrated the feast of Pentecost. It began as a feast of thanksgiving for the beginning of the harvest and acquired a new meaning, becoming the feast of the covenant and the giving of the Law, which made Israel the people of God. On that day, gathered together as a community, the disciples experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, who constituted them as the new people of God.

The Holy Spirit manifested himself as a powerful wind and as tongues of fire. The wind represents the air that we breathe, the breeze that brings relief, the wind that pushes the clouds around and brings the rain, the hurricane that uproots trees and shatters buildings and the tornado that lifts everything in its passage, leaving destruction behind. At the beginning of times, the Spirit made possible the creation and he is the breath of life that God breathed into the nostrils of human beings. Always present, most of the time, the Holy Spirit breathes in us and whispers words of wisdom and guidance, but there are moments when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives like a tornado, forcing us to change direction and filling us with his power to do God’s work. Thus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles overcome their fear and were filled with courage and boldness to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Fire is another symbol of the Holy Spirit. God revealed himself to Moses in a flame of fire (Ex 3:2) and guided the people of Israel through a pillar of fire (Ex 13:21-22) and then descended on Mount Sinai in fire (Ex 19:18). The Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles in tongues of fire. Like fire, the Holy Spirit purifies and transforms. He gives warmth and leaves our hearts burning with his love. With his fire, the Holy Spirit can melt our hardened hearts so that we are created anew in the image of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is the source of unity, making possible a new community, the Church, the new people of God who can give praise and thanksgiving to God in all languages. The diversity of tribes and nations is no more a source of division, but a contribution to the growth and communion of all.

May the Holy Spirit guides us in truth, give us commitment in love and strengthen us in courage to be true witnesses of Jesus Christ.