CCC Cross Reference:
Gal 5 1454; Gal 5:1 1741, 1748; Gal 5:3 578; Gal 5:6 162, 1814
Lk 11:37 588; Lk 11:39-54 579; Lk 11:41 2447
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Reading 1
Gal 5:1-6
Brothers and sisters:
For freedom Christ set us free;
so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
It is I, Paul, who am telling you
that if you have yourselves circumcised,
Christ will be of no benefit to you.
Once again I declare to every man who has himself circumcised
that he is bound to observe the entire law.
You are separated from Christ,
you who are trying to be justified by law;
you have fallen from grace.
For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness.
For in Christ Jesus,
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything,
but only faith working through love.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 119:41, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48
R. (41a) Let your mercy come to me, O Lord.
Let your mercy come to me, O LORD,
your salvation according to your promise.
R. Let your mercy come to me, O Lord.
Take not the word of truth from my mouth,
for in your ordinances is my hope.
R. Let your mercy come to me, O Lord.
And I will keep your law continually,
forever and ever.
R. Let your mercy come to me, O Lord.
And I will walk at liberty,
because I seek your precepts.
R. Let your mercy come to me, O Lord.
And I will delight in your commands,
which I love.
R. Let your mercy come to me, O Lord.
And I will lift up my hands to your commands
and meditate on your statutes.
R. Let your mercy come to me, O Lord.
Gospel
Lk 11:37-41
After Jesus had spoken,
a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.
He entered and reclined at table to eat.
The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!
Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,
inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
You fools!
Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Galatians 5:1 – 6
When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. It is I, Paul, who tell you this: if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all. With all solemnity I repeat my warning: Everyone who accepts circumcision is obliged to keep the whole Law. But if you do look to the Law to make you justified, then you have separated yourselves from Christ, and have fallen from grace. Christians are told by the Spirit to look to faith for those rewards that righteousness hopes for, since in Christ Jesus whether you are circumcised or not makes no difference – what matters is faith that makes its power felt through love.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 118(119):41,43-45,47-48
Lord, let your love come upon me.
Lord, let your love come upon me,
the saving help of your promise.
Do not take the word of truth from my mouth
for I trust in your decrees.
Lord, let your love come upon me.
I shall always keep your law
for ever and ever.
I shall walk in the path of freedom
for I seek your precepts.
Lord, let your love come upon me.
Your commands have been my delight;
these I have loved.
I will worship your commands and love them
and ponder your statutes.
Lord, let your love come upon me.
Gospel Luke 11:37 – 41
Jesus had just finished speaking when a Pharisee invited him to dine at his house. He went in and sat down at the table. The Pharisee saw this and was surprised that he had not first washed before the meal. But the Lord said to him, ‘Oh, you Pharisees! You clean the outside of cup and plate, while inside yourselves you are filled with extortion and wickedness. Fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside too? Instead, give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you.’
Readings and Commentary from Navarre
Tuesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Galatians 5:1-6
Christian Liberty
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[1] For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
[2] Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. [3] I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is bound to keep the whole law. [4] You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. [5] For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. [6] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love.
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Commentary:
1-3. The Law of Moses, which was divinely revealed, was something good; it suited the circumstances of the time. Christ came to bring this Law to perfection (cf. notes on Mt 5:17-19 and Gal 5:14-15). All the elaborate legal and ritual prescriptions in the Mosaic Law were laid down by God for a specific stage in Salvation History, that is, the stage which ended with the coming of Christ. Christians are under no obligation to follow the letter of that Law (cf. St Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae", I-II, q. 108, a.3 ad 3).
Although in this letter to the Galatians the Apostle is emphasizing, as we have seen, freedom from the Law of Moses, obviously this liberation cannot be entirely disconnected from freedom in general. If someone submits to circumcision after being baptized, it amounts to subjecting oneself to a series of practices which have now no value and to depriving oneself of the fruits of Christ's Redemption. In other words, subjection to the Law brings with it a loss of freedom in general. Paul is using the full might of his apostolic authority when he says, "If you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you." Christ's Redemption alone is effective; it has no need of the rites of the Old Testament.
4-5. There is now not just a clear distinction but actual opposition between following Christ and the observance of the Law, with the result that if anyone tries to live by the Law only he is cutting himself off from Christ. Baptism is the sacra- ment whereby we are inserted into Jesus Christ, becoming members of his Body and branches of the vine (cf. Jn 15:5). If we cut ourselves off from Christ, the true vine and source of life, we cannot bear fruit. Nor can we do so by going back and submitting to the Old Law, for that Law is now out of date and no longer operates.
On the other hand, if we remain in the grace which Christ has won for us, we shall produce the "hope of righteousness", which is not simply what we have now -- the life of grace -- but its perfect fulfillment in eternal life: this is really what we "wait" for, what we yearn for.
6. In the stage of Salvation History which begins with Christ, the fact that a person is Jewish or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, counts for nothing as far as salvation is concerned. What does matter is truly believing that only Christ Jesus can save us: true faith, genuine faith, moves us to love Christ and, as a consequence of this, to love everyone without exception. The faith to which St Paul is referring can be described, as the Apostle St James implies (Jas 2:17), as "living faith", that is, faith which is translated into a profound conviction which motivates us to love: this is "faith working through love".
St Paul is obviously speaking about the supernatural virtue of faith in its proper sense, that is, "living faith". In the Christian tradition, stemming from St James, "dead faith" is a caricature of faith which is incapable of expressing itself in words.
The Magisterium of the Church teaches that "faith, unless it is joined to hope and charity, neither makes us one with Christ nor loving members of his Body. That is why it is rightly said that 'faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead' (Jas 2:17) and idle, and that 'in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love' (Gal 5:6; 6:15)" (Council of Trent, "De Iustificatione", chap. 7).
Therefore, a person who has faith but does not live in the grace of God is really a kind of dead person: charity is as it were the soul of all virtues, it is what gives them life: "it must be remembered that if someone had all the gifts of the Holy Spirit with the exception of the first gift, charity, he could not be supernaturally alive [...]. He would be like a dead body: however much he deck himself out in gold and precious stones, he continues to be a dead body" (St Thomas, "On the Two Commandments...", intro. 3).
Our Lord said that his disciples would be recognized by their charity (cf. Jn 13: 35), because faith begets hope, and hope leads on to love. "When one asks if someone is good," St Augustine says, "one does not check to see what he believes or what he hopes for, but what it is he loves. For someone who loves rightly certainly also believes and hopes rightly; but he who does not love believes in vain, even if what he believes in is true [...]. Therefore, this is the faith in Christ, which the Apostle extols -- 'faith which works through love" ("Enchiridion", chap. 117).
From: Luke 11:37-41
The Hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees
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[37] While He (Jesus) was speaking, a Pharisee asked Him to dine with Him; so He went in and sat at table. [38] The Pharisee was astonished to see that He did not first wash before dinner. [39] And the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of extortion and wickedness. [40] You fools! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? [41] But give for alms those things which are within; and behold everything is clean for you."
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Commentary:
39-52. In this passage (one of the most severe in the Gospel) Jesus determinedly unmasks the vice which was largely responsible for official Judaism's rejection of His teaching -- hypocrisy cloaked in legalism. There are many people, who under the guise of doing good, keeping the mere letter of the law, fail to keep its spirit; they close themselves to the love of God and neighbor; they harden their hearts and, though apparently very upright, turn others away from fervent pursuit of God -- making virtue distasteful. Jesus' criticism is vehement because they are worse than open enemies: against open enemies one can defend oneself, but these enemies are almost impossible to deal with. The scribes and Pharisees were blocking the way of those who wanted to follow Jesus: they were the most formidable obstacle to the Gospel. Our Lord's invective against the scribes and Pharisees is reported even more fully in chapter 23 of St. Matthew. See the note on Matthew 23:1-39.
[The note on Matthew 23:1-39 states:
1-39. Throughout this chapter Jesus severely criticizes the scribes and Pharisees and demonstrates the sorrow and compassion He feels towards the ordinary mass of the people, who have been ill-used, "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). His address may be divided into three parts: in the first (verses 1-12) He identifies their principal vices and corrupt practices; in the second (verses 13-36) He confronts them and speaks His famous "woes", which in effect are the reverse of the Beatitudes He preached in Chapter 5: no one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven -- no one can escape condemnation to the flames -- unless he changes his attitude and behavior; in the third part (verses 37- 39) He weeps over Jerusalem, so grieved is He by the evils into which the blind pride and hardheartedness of the scribes and Pharisees have misled the people.]
40-41. It is not easy to work out what these verses mean. Probably our Lord is using the idea of cleaning the inside and outside of dishes to teach that a person's heart is much more important than what appears on the surface – whereas the Pharisees got it the wrong way round, as so many people tend to do. Jesus is warning us not to be so concerned about "the outside" but rather give importance to "the inside". Applying this to the case of alms: we have to be generous with those things we are inclined to hoard; in other words, it is not enough just to give a little money (that could be a purely formal, external gesture); love is what we have to give others -- love and understanding, refinement, respect for their freedom, deep concern for their spiritual and material welfare; this is something we cannot do unless our interior dispositions are right.
In an address to young people, Pope John Paul II explains what almsgiving really means: "The Greek word for alms, "eleemosyne", comes from "eleos", meaning compassion and mercy. Various circumstances have combined to change this meaning so that almsgiving is often regarded as a cold act, with no love in it. But almsgiving in the proper sense means realizing the needs of others and letting them share in one's own goods. Who would say that there will not always be others who need help, especially spiritual help, support, consolation, fraternity, love? The world is always very poor, as far as love is concerned" (28 March 1979).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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