Saturday in the 27th Week of Ordinary Time, October 8, 2022

Galatians 3, 22-29

Brothers and sisters: Scripture confined all things under the power of sin, that through faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe. Before faith came, we were held in custody under law, confined for the faith that was to be revealed. Consequently, the law was our disciplinarian for Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian. For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.

Following the words of the First Reading from the Letter to the Galatians for yesterday’s Mass, St. Paul begins to explain what the purpose of the Law was: that it prefigured the Jews and prepared them for the coming of Christ and grace. Today’s Reading comes abruptly to us without this introductory material and begins with, “Scripture confined all things under the power of sin, that through faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.”  Now, this is difficult to translate from the Greek and to understand.  In this case, I prefer the Jerusalem Bible’s translation: “Scripture makes no exception when it says that sin is master everywhere; so the promise can be given only by faith in Jesus Christ to those who have this faith.”  Paul is stating that because of our fallen human nature and the propensity of humans to violate their consciences, sin abounds in the world and rules over the human race.  Scripture points this out, for instance, at the time of the Flood: “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6, 11).  The Law, contained within Scripture, makes more specific charges against sin by what it forbids.

“Before faith came, we were held in custody under law, confined for the faith that was to be revealed. Consequently, the Law was our disciplinarian for Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”  This is a tricky passage to read because of the way it is translated here, and also because when we modern folks read St. Paul’s Letters we tend to read them as written to us, imagining that he is speaking directly to us.  Instead, we should keep firmly in mind that Paul, the former Jew now a Christian, is talking to Gentile Christians, and they are listening to him as a former Jew, now a Christian.  Therefore, when Paul says, “Before faith came, we were held in custody under law, confined for the faith that was to be revealed”, Paul is speaking of himself and his brethren as Jews.  He is not speaking of himself and the rest of mankind.  He is explaining to the Galatians, as a Jew, what the Law, which the Galatians suddenly were hankering for, meant for him, and why they, the Galatian Christians, did not need it and that it was, in fact, useless for them.  It would be as if a yearning for kindergarten came upon a college graduate.  Now, a better translation of this verse is, “Before the faith came we were being kept (or guarded) under the Law, enclosed for the Faith about to be revealed.  Consequently, the Law was our tutor unto Christ that we might be justified by faith.”  The Law is seen as a protective, nurturing guardian that prepares the Jews for Christ.  “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian.”  Again, the Greek word translated here as “disciplinarian” really means a “tutor” — in ancient times, usually this was a slave assigned to a youth who would teach and guide him.  Paul makes the point that this “tutor” has completed his mission and now faith has come to bring the youth into full adulthood.  “For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.”  Now Paul speaks to the Galatians about themselves: faith has come to them without the preparatory tutor, the Law.  “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”  They are clothed in Christ as fully as the Jews who have accepted baptism, who had the benefit of this long preparation and so “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  That is, these natural or legal distinctions of course persist, but they do not affect one’s belonging to Christ.  Paul’s point again is that it is not biological heritage or legal or social distinction that makes a person a Christian, but faith and grace: “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.”

Those of us who were baptized as infants and raised in the Catholic Church ought to be patient with those who struggle with belief in something greater than that which this world has to offer.  We who have had always had faith should pray every day for those who do not, and who may not see a reason for it.  They live and think in a very different reality than we do, and we may not understand them anymore than they understand us.  The Galatians had St. Paul to help them.  Will you and I help the Gentiles in our world today?