Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians continues today to make the case for the Gentiles, that they need not become Jews in order to follow Jesus. Paul reminds the community in Galatia how he, Barnabas and Titus were given authority and commissioned by James, Cephas (Peter) and John while in Jerusalem. Paul describes how they preached the same gospel to the uncircumcised as Peter preaches to the circumcised. They were sent to bring the gospel to the Gentiles and to be mindful of the poor.
This reading shows how passionately Paul takes his mission. Although Paul sees himself not as an equal among peers, he is not afraid to confront Peter. Paul’s unabashed capacity to stand up for what he believes is clearly evident. Paul publicly confronts Peter as acting like a hypocrite. He accuses him as not “walking the talk”. Peter’s actions implied that these Gentiles still needed to eat like Jews. The problem for Paul was two-fold, one that Peter had already eaten with Gentiles and two, that Peter had already agreed Gentiles did not have to become Jewish.
Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Actions speak louder than words. “Preach the gospel always, if necessary use words” said St. Francis. Obviously, walking the talk has been problematic throughout human and church history as we see in the reading today. We need look no further than our own lives, where we see people work so hard to say they are good Christians, and contradict what they say with their actions. If we examine our own lives we will find that we too fall into this contradictory pattern.
In the gospel, we find the disciples asking Jesus how to pray. His answer is what we now know as the “Our Father”. Ironically, many of us rattle off this prayer without stopping to reflect on its profound meaning. Take some time today to reflect on the words from today’s gospel.
Father, hallowed be your name,
Your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.” Luke 11:2b,3-4.
These questions could aid our reflection:
- Do we bless the Lord’s name in all we do?
- Do we trust God will provide for us?
- Do we want God to forgive us according to our own ability to forgive?
This is just a quick list, yet we could use it to focus our reflection. Ultimately, do we mean what we pray? As Christians, if live what we believe, then we can with integrity and joy, in our actions and in our words: “Go out to all of the world, and tell the Good News.”
- Michael Montgomery