Above The World

A Reflection on the Second Reading for June 30th, 2019:
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Galatians 5.1, 13-18

Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.

For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.

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In 1985 Bryan Ferry released what became one of his most popular solo hits Slave to Love, suggesting that love is “how the strong get weak and the rich get poor.” I expect that Bryan Ferry, were he to read this blog, would agree that consistency with scripture was not a target he was aiming for. What Bryan describes—I feel I can call him Bryan now that I’ve engaged in a study of his lyrical style—is an experience more akin to obsession than love. I imagine Saint Paul engaging Bryan Ferry in the Hereafter, saying, “My dear Bryan, I’m afraid you have it all wrong! Only sin can enslave us. It is love that makes the weak strong and the poor rich. But don’t worry, my dear fellow—you’re not the only confused one: I had to set the Galatians straight on this very point.”

In this week’s second reading, Saint Paul reminds the Galatians that when Christ died on the cross, He lifted from our shoulders the yoke of sin—our own sins and those of others—so that we no longer need to carry our bitterness, greed and wounded pride nor feed our desire to “bite and devour each other” to accumulate that which the world values. Instead, we are weightless, as light as feathers, free to live the Golden Rule: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” This is not of the world but above the world.

Key to Saint Paul’s message to the Galatians—and no less relevant today—is his distinction between freedom and self-indulgence. “They are in conflict with each other,” he says. Freedom is not an opportunity to do on a whim whatever makes us feel good (“to indulge the flesh”) but rather to grow more like Christ (“to serve one another humbly in love”).

"Freedom is not an opportunity to do on a whim whatever makes us feel good (“to indulge the flesh”) but rather to grow more like Christ (“to serve one another humbly in love”)."

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As Bishop Robert Barron has written, God is love. Love is everything that God is. And, therefore, Christ is love. For love of us He died so that we might realize the power of His love and, freed from the burden of our selves, we might follow His example. As Saint Paul says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Regardless of what the world may say, we are vulnerable to enslavement by many things; but love, real love, is not one of them. ​

Donna Davis

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