Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

“Landscape with Christ and his Disciples on the Road to Emmaus”
by Jan Wildens 1640s

Readings for Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Galatians 5:18-25
 
Brothers and sisters:
If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy,
outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness,
dissensions, factions, occasions of envy,
drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.
I warn you, as I warned you before,
that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh
with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.
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Commentary on Gal 5:18-25
 
The apostle deals with a problem. He has evangelized Gentile and Jew and now must clarify Christian morality and spirituality. There were some in Galatia who believed that, by being freed from the rigors of Mosaic Law, they were free to do whatever they wished. In this selection, St. Paul tells the Galatians that with freedom (from the Law of Moses) in Christ comes a higher calling.
 
He contrasts “works of the flesh” with “fruit of the Spirit,” providing a catalogue of sins and a corresponding list of virtues. The evangelist gives the community a clear warning that those who follow the flesh will not inherit the Kingdom of God, but those who “belong to Christ” have experienced an inner conversion. Those “crucified in their flesh” (see also Romans 6:6; Romans 8:9,13) are able to rise above worldly desires and live in the spirit.
 
CCC: Gal 5 1454; Gal 5:22-23 736; Gal 5:22-23 Vulg. 1832; Gal 5:22 1108, 1695, 2345; Gal 5:24 2515, 2543, 2555; Gal 5:25 736, 782, 1695, 2516, 2842, 2848
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
 
R. (see Jn 8:12) Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
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Commentary on Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
 
Psalm 1 serves as a preface to the whole book of the psalms. The psalmist here exalts those who follow the Lord’s commands, and reflects upon the blessings they will receive. As in Romans 6:19ff, this selection emphasizes the contrast between the salvation of the just and the punishment of the wicked.
 
This wisdom psalm begins by extolling the virtue of those who follow the law. The focus is to look to God for guidance, and not to trust only in the counsel of men. Those who reject the law will be blown away like “chaff,” an image used in the Gospel as well (Matthew 3:12).
 
This portion of the psalm is later echoed in Isaiah 48:17-19, like an overlapped formula of covenant.  Blessed is the man who “delights in the law day and night,” but “the way of the wicked vanishes.” It also takes up the theme of following right paths and staying true to the teachings of God: “Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night.”
 
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Gospel: Luke 11:42-46
 
The Lord said:
“Woe to you Pharisees!
You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb,
but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God.
These you should have done, without overlooking the others.
Woe to you Pharisees!
You love the seat of honor in synagogues
and greetings in marketplaces.
Woe to you!
You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.”
Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply,
“Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”
And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law!
You impose on people burdens hard to carry,
but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”
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Commentary on Lk 11:42-46
 
In this passage the Lord continues his criticism of those who believe that ritual practice is more important than the spirit of God’s law. He points at their contributions to the temple, and their neglect of the needy as symbolic of this lack of understanding. In teaching this type of faith, focused only on religious practice, they lead others astray, and in doing so they are doing the evil one’s work. (“You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” Touching human remains, according to Hebrew Law caused ritual impurity.)
Likewise, when questioned by the scholar of the law (probably referring to a scribe), the Lord points at his questioner and says that those who focus only on the minutiae of Hebraic Law are missing its intent.
 
CCC: Lk 11:39-54 579; Lk 11:41 2447
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Reflection:
 
“You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
 
The Lord speaks these words from the prophet Micah as he castigates the Pharisees and scribes in St. Luke’s Gospel.  St. Paul makes the same point to the Galatians.  The spirit of God, indwelling, must rule the flesh.  Otherwise, our walk along life’s pathways becomes a solitary one, for God does not walk with us, and the evil one, once our course is set, abandons us to our fate.
 
“You have been told […] what is good, and what the Lord requires of you.”  This simple statement presumes that we, as Christians, have heard and understood what God commands.  It is a statement that will constantly guide us, because it requires that our knowledge of what is good will be coupled with our actions based upon that knowledge.  Jesus provides us an example of what happens when knowledge is decoupled from action.  The Pharisees understood that the Law of Moses required them to give the first fruits of their labors to God (the temple).  Poring over the words of the Torah (our Pentateuch), they devised a set of legal prescriptions that they felt complied with those laws down to the smallest letter of the Law.  In doing so, the obsession with the letter of the law veiled the spirit of the law and blinded them to “only do what is right.”
 
We are fortunate that Christ reveals God’s will in such a way.  To the Pharisees, who had lost sight of the purpose of the Law, this attack on their obsession was a declaration of war in their eyes.  The Lord’s natural allies were turned against him.  For us this example serves as a warning.  We must never get so focused on the details of our worship that we forget God’s greater purpose.
 
Today we reflect upon the inspired words of the prophet Micah, letting them inspire us to walk more closely with our humble Savior, hearing the voice of God and doing only what is right.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “Landscape with Christ and his Disciples on the Road to Emmaus” by Jan Wildens 1640s.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.