Sometimes you will find that most of the verses of the Scripture passages for Mass each day are acceptable even to pagans, secular humanists, and fallen-away Catholics. For example, in today's Gospel reading, Jesus points out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and tells the Bible lawyers not to burden people without helping them (Lk 11:43-46). Many anti-Christians certainly agree with Jesus on these two points. In today's reading from Galatians, the fruit of the Spirit is described as love, joy, and peace (Gal 5:22). Almost everyone believes in love, joy, and peace, although they may define these words differently than Christians do. However, many non-Christians and even some Christians rabidly reject something in the daily Scripture readings. If we obey the Lord in these difficult passages, then we are truly following the Spirit's lead (Gal 5:25).

For most Christians, the key Scripture verse for today is Galatians 5:24: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires." The Lord commands us to accept His grace so we will have crucified flesh, crucified passions, and crucified desires. Although some people believe in toning down the flesh and not following every whim (see Eph 2:3), the idea of "crucified flesh" smacks of extremism and fanaticism to those programmed in our secular humanistic "culture of death." Here's where the real Christians stand up. Obey even the difficult verses, live by the Spirit, and follow the Spirit's lead. Obey Galatians 5:24 and 5:25.

Rescript:  †Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, May 3, 2018

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