I thought that St Paul was very harsh in the way our passage from his letter started out today, calling the Galatians “stupid.” St Paul was obviously was very angry at the way the Galatians were forsaking their faith, trying to rely on human works and human effort in order to try to achieve salvation. We Catholics here in the South often are accused by our Protestant brothers and sisters of trying to rely on our good works and our own human efforts in order to achieve our salvation. It is one of the questions I often get asked as a priest by non-Catholics, about how good works fit into God’s plan of salvation for us. Our good works are to be a fruit of our faith and salvation, the way that we live out our faith, not a means of achieving salvation. We are to see salvation not as something we earn, but as a freely given gift from God. St Paul himself is a good example of this, of how he went into action after his conversion, of how he felt a call from God to bring the Gospel message to the Gentiles. Sometimes we need a reality check in our lives of faith, which is why St Paul uses these harsh words with the Galatians. St Paul always seems to give us a lot to think about, doesn’t he?
No comments:
Post a Comment