(Please read this Scripture passage first, before the homily.)
Wow! Is Paul upset! We begin a series of readings from the letter of St Paul to the Galatians. This does not sound like a letter of congratulations or the type we would write for a person celebrating a notable birthday or anniversary. It is a fact that we can understand letters better when we know the circumstances behind the letter. It is also true that we can often infer the circumstances from the words and tones of the letter.
Paul had come to the people of Galatia with the good news of Jesus Christ and the people welcomed him with open arms. Then he left to continue his missionary travels. Apparently some people came after Paul and disparaged his work and challenged the truthfulness of his teaching. They accused Paul of currying favor by not making the Galatians become Jewish before becoming Christians.
Paul’s response was that these new preachers were perverting the Gospel and that they were accursed for their stance. Nobody could proclaim to the Galatians another gospel other than the one Paul had preached. Angels from heaven could not and Paul himself could not. No human could proclaim any Gospel other than the one Paul preached. Paul’s Gospel had come from Christ himself and had no human origin: it had come from God.
These people who had come after Paul were disturbing the Galatians and turning them away from the true Gospel Paul was proclaiming.
It would, of course, be harder to become Jewish before becoming Christian. Being Jewish meant being circumcised and observing dietary and other rules. Paul’s Gospel would remove these requirements and thus make it easier for Galatians to become Christians. Those who had come after Paul apparently wanted the Galatians to adopt Jewish practices, making it harder for them be Christians. From this came their charge that Paul had watered down the Gospel. Again, Paul would have none of that.
Paul considered himself a faithful Jew from his upbringing and early life. In fact, he never gave up his Jewishness. He did, however, have a profound experience of God which led him to faith in Jesus Christ. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, revealed to him, that Paul was preaching.
We do owe our Jewish ancestors and all the Jewish people deep gratitude and respect. They handed on to us the stories of God contained in the Bible. They remain in this, our day, still, the people God has chosen to be God’s special people.
Paul wrote to the Galatians from his deep religious background in the Jewish faith and in the fullness of the Gospel revealed to him. From his Jewish faith, Paul preached the one true Gospel. He was very upset when he learned that some people had come preaching a different Gospel. We have received Paul’s Gospel and we must remain faithful to it in our day. We must apply Paul’s words to ourselves.