Speak Lord: Saviour

The Second reading on Sunday, the 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time continues our reading of the letter of Paul to the Galatians.

Paul plainly states his central point, that faith in Jesus Christ is at the heart of things of Christians – not law, not our achievements but a living communion with Christ, his saving gift which draws us into the richest life, life that has overcome death.

We acknowledge that what makes a man righteous is not obedience to the Law, but faith in Jesus Christ. We had to become believers in Christ Jesus no less than you had, and now we hold that faith in Christ rather than fidelity to the Law is what justifies us, and that no one can be justified by keeping the Law. In other words, through the Law I am dead to the Law, so that now I can live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in this body I live in faith: faith in the Son of God who loved me and who sacrificed himself for my sake. I cannot bring myself to give up God’s gift: if the Law can justify us, there is no point in the death of Christ.

Galatians 2:16,19-21

• How do I live the  saved life, freely, in Christ?

Window, Oscott College. (c) 2015, Allen Morris.