12/10/2022

St Paul who has received direct guidance from God teaches against reliance on the Law. The Law that he studied diligently for many years is the manual for life built on the revelation received by Moses. We can find this "Law" recorded in the Old Testament and it was known most intimately by Jesus, who sometimes spoke in the synagogue and prayed the psalms every day. St Paul tells us that Jesus has made "Life in the Spirit" possible for all mankind. 

Father Son and Holy Spirit out of the Love that is God's being and by the power of God's will has always known that the Incarnate Son is to suffer for us, to wash away our sins. St Paul, knowing this, thus teaches that if we receive Christ in the Spirit we are secure from the sins that the Law was there to prevent.

St Paul does not attack our "fleshly lives" because he thinks "body" is sinful. He has seen the Resurrection and knows that God was man on earth in Jesus' bodily life. St Paul does know and teach, however, that we must use our human freedom to focus on our interior life and devote this to pondering on Jesus and his relationship to our place in the world.

Jesus is accused to his face of insulting the group he is addressing. Our Lord condemns no man but only confirms that there is a right way for us all to live. He is the way the truth and the life and he is our support in turning from indulging our fleshly selves to dedicating our complete being, body, mind and soul to the service of God's will for us.

Dear Lord, as I live this day let me be shielded against the snares which beset all of your children. Let my heart be fully open to your loving grace. May the prayers of Mary and all the saints be a model for my life and let me persevere in my own attempts at prayer.