I enjoy when we have first readings from the letters from St Paul in daily Mass, because there is always so much wisdom and truth to glean from them. Today, from the letter to the Colossians, which was probably written around the time he was under two years of house arrest in Rome, we hear Paul’s optimism in the faith, even in the midst of his imprisonment. Paul tells us that we should walk in the light of Christ in which we were taught, giving thanks in all things and not being held captive by the empty, seductive philosophies that the secular world offers. The lure and promises of the secular world are things we still deal with today,
I recently had a friend proudly tell me that he is spiritual, not religious. I am not even sure what that means. So many young people today see it as a source of weakness to belong to a church community and to rely on the practice of one of the organized religions as the foundation of our faith and spirituality. Yet, when we look at all of the support we give each other in our parish communities, when we look upon our faith that goes back to the early Church fathers and mothers, to the apostles, to what St Paul is teaching us about today, how can there be another answer, another manner to live out the faith we have in our Lord Jesus Christ?
As St Paul tells us, we were buried with Christ in our baptism, we died with him, but then we rose with him to new life. Jesus took our transgressions, he obliterated the bond that our transgressions and sins had on us, he freed us, then he nailed those sins and transgressions to cross on which he died. Our faith is not something that burdens us or oppresses us. Rather, it frees us to new life in service and in the proclamation of God’s kingdom to our world. We have our triumph, our glory, our freedom in the faith we share together, in the salvation Christ brings to us. May we fully believe this truth, may we fully live it out in our lives.
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