Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
I shudder at the term slave, because evil has led to the enslavement of millions of people over the centuries and does so still today in many and varied forms. In this reflection, I want to emphasize that St Paul refers to voluntary servitude, not to people taken against their will into bondage. In Paul’s day, most slaves entered willingly into that relationship, and were paid wages for their service. His references to slavery in the Letter to the Romans are meant to awaken us to the things to which we choose to be subservient, and to lead us toward life-giving, godly obedience. I must ask myself today, “what has mastery over me?” “to whom or to what do I present myself as a slave?”
As I interpret it, St Paul highlights two different ways that people approach the Christian life:
- Slave to the Law.
- Sin = Master
- Motivation = fear (fear of eternal condemnation; fear of punishment; fear of displeasing God; fear of not being ‘good enough’ . . .)
- Good works = must perform to earn God’s approval and be considered obedient or faithful
- Dilemma = the Law reveals our sin constantly; no way to perfectly fulfill the Law; focus on sin tempts us to sin
- Slave to Righteousness/Grace.
- Lord Jesus Christ = Master
- Motivation = Love (perfect love casts out all fear – 1 John 4:18)
- Good works = flow naturally from the outpouring of God’s love in one’s heart
- We can be confident that while we do occasionally sin, sin does not have mastery over us. God’s grace and love have mastery over us.
The irony in approach #1 is that the more we try to be obedient to the Law by obeying the Ten Commandments, all scriptural prescriptions, and the teachings of the Church, the more aware we are of our human inability to be perfectly obedient, and hence the more aware we are of our sin. Sin becomes the focus, not God. We either become unhealthily preoccupied with our presumed guilt, and/or we fall into sin’s insidious trap of temptation to even more sinful behaviors. It’s a vicious cycle of sin – guilt – works – sin – guilt – works – sin. That’s why St Paul asserts that sin leads to death – there is nothing life-giving about that cycle!
On the other hand, when we choose to be slaves to righteousness, we do so not out of legalistic striving, but by being enslaved by Love itself. This is also ironic – we are not declared righteous by our obedient works; righteousness comes as a free gift by grace through faith (Romans 3:21-31) and is lived out of one’s love affair with Jesus. The Old Testament Law required works. The New Covenant in Christ Jesus requires faith and love. Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the Law and the Prophets; nothing has been nullified. We uphold the Law by living lives of faith and love, following scriptural and Church teaching, motivated not by fear but by Love.
Today let us ask ourselves, am I a slave to Law and to works? or am I a slave to Jesus and to love? What are my primary motivators as I seek to be a faithful Catholic Christian? My simple prayer today is, God, reveal to me what I need to know. Awaken me to transformation. Thank you for your unconditional love and abundant grace!
- Elizabeth Wourms