Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Mass Readings
“O Stupid Galatians!” begins our passage from Paul’s letter today. Paul’s frustration with the church of Galatia is expressed here full-force. The subject of this letter is circumcision, which Paul argues is not necessary in order to be a Christian. This is contrary to those Judaizer Christians, who argued that to become Christian one must first become Jewish. This was a way of excluding Gentiles from becoming Christian. For Paul, however, this is not just an issue of exclusivism; it is an issue of understanding the workings of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is, in fact, the one who has led these people to faith in Christ. An emphasis on circumcision as a necessity seems to contradict God’s work through the Spirit, placing the focus instead on now unnecessary Jewish ceremonial practices. Paul calls the people back to the Spirit and back to faith in the gospel—the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. In today’s gospel passage from Luke, Jesus also calls his disciples to faith, faith in the goodness of the Father. The message here is persistence in asking, and Jesus states that the Father will give to those who ask for and seek the Holy Spirit. Notice the specificity of this; while the message as a whole regards persistence, specifically it is about those who desire the Holy Spirit.
Both readings today draw out this message of the Holy Spirit as gift. It is the best gift that the Father can give us, and the Father WANTS to give us this gift. All we have to do is ask for it with persistence. But, like the people of Galatia, we often fall into the trap of trying to do things on our own, instead of seeking the Spirit. We sometimes live as though everything depends on our own work, as though we can save ourselves, when, in fact, we have already been saved and continue to be saved in the person of Jesus through the continuing work of the Holy Spirit.
Today, let us pray in earnest for the gift of the Holy Spirit, praying that we can live our lives according to that Spirit. Here is one traditional prayer to the Holy Spirit: “Come Holy Spirit, and fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your Divine Love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth. Oh God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructed the hearts of the faithful, Grant, that by the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.”
- Maria Morrow