20261012 STAYING FREE IN THE LORD
12 October 2026, Monday, 28th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Galatians 4:22-24,26-27,31-5:1 |
Christ freed us: do not submit again to slavery
The Law says, if you remember, that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by his free-born wife. The child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary way; the child of the free woman was born as the result of a promise. This can be regarded as an allegory: the women stand for the two covenants. The first who comes from Mount Sinai, and whose children are slaves, is Hagar. The Jerusalem above, however, is free and is our mother, since scripture says: Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children! Break into shouts of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour. For there are more sons of the forsaken one than sons of the wedded wife. So, my brothers, we are the children, not of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife.
When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 112(113):1-7 |
May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!
May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
praised be the name of the Lord!
High above all nations is the Lord,
above the heavens his glory.
May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
Who is like the Lord, our God,
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth?
From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:88 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Because of your love give me life,
and I will do your will.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 11:29-32 |
As Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be a sign
The crowds got even bigger, and Jesus addressed them:
‘This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here.’
STAYING FREE IN THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GAL 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1; LK 11:29-32]
Freedom is the most precious gift of God to man. It is an inherent right, one enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This means that every person has the right to free speech, religion, and worship. But what is the basis of human freedom? The world advocates passionately for individual freedom. Unfortunately, individual freedom is now often promoted in a way that infringes upon the rights of the community due to abuses and a lopsided view of God’s freedom. In the name of freedom, chaos often ensues because individual rights seem to take primacy over the common good.
At the heart of the issue is a more fundamental question we should pose to those advocates who fail to respect the limited nature of human freedom: What is the basis of their call to freedom? Is this freedom founded on man per se, or on absolute freedom? Why should freedom be founded on man alone? What about animal rights–should we accord them the same freedom? If freedom is founded only on man, then that freedom is relative and subjective. Such freedom is not true freedom, but rather another form of slavery to our passions, selfishness, and pride. Only God is absolute freedom. Our freedom is always relative, conditioned by the freedom of others and, most of all, the freedom of God. The foundation of Christian freedom rests on the fact that we are created in the image and likeness of God. Sharing in His intellect and will, we are given the capacity to choose.
True freedom, therefore, presupposes that our freedom is founded in God alone; all other forms of freedom merely seek to mirror His. This freedom reaches its highest expression in Christ. What is the basis of true freedom? It is love. St. Paul tells us that the only debt we owe to one another is the debt of mutual love. He wrote, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the law” (Rom 13:8), and “Love does not do wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom 13:10). Within this premise of Christian freedom, we can better appreciate St. Paul’s exhortation to the Galatians: “When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”
When St. Paul used the allegory of the children born of Hagar and Sarah to symbolise the Old and New Covenants, he wanted to remind us that salvation is not based on the Law, but on faith alone. In the case of Hagar, she bore a child as a surrogate mother for Sarah and Abraham in accordance with the ancient laws of that era, which stipulated that a childless wife had to provide a surrogate–in this case, her slave–to bear children for her husband’s lineage. In this sense, the child born of Hagar belonged to the Law. In contrast, Sarah’s child was born through faith in God, who miraculously blessed Sarah and Abraham with a son long after they were past childbearing age. Understood in this context, St. Paul wrote: “The first who comes from Mount Sinai, and whose children are slaves, is Hagar. The Jerusalem above, however, is free and is our mother, since scripture says: Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children! Break into shouts of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour. For there are more sons of the forsaken one than sons of the wedded wife. So, my brothers, we are the children, not of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife.” In a nutshell, we are not justified or saved by the Law, human effort, or ingenuity, but purely by the graciousness of God’s love.
In their impatience, Abraham and Sarah did not wait for God’s promise to be fulfilled, taking matters into their own hands by having Hagar conceive. Consequently, they brought turmoil into their lives and into the lives of future generations. It is traditionally understood that the Arab nations descended from Hagar’s child and the Jewish people from Sarah’s. This division and conflict continue even today. If Abraham and Sarah had only trusted and relied purely on the grace of God, history might have unfolded differently. Yet, we know that everything remains in God’s hands. Our abuse of freedom cannot destroy God’s divine plan for humanity, because God reigns supreme and His plan can never be thwarted by man, even though we often inflict self-harm along the way.
Through Jesus, therefore, we are set free from both our sins and the Law–two distinct forms of slavery. Simply following our passions to satisfy our desires leads to self-indulgence; without self-control, our passions will destroy us. St. Paul warns us later in the same letter: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:19-21)
On the other hand, we can also fall into the slavery of the Law, as the Jews did. The Law cannot save us because it merely reveals what is right and wrong; it brings consciousness of sin without providing the power to overcome it. The Law can cause us either to despair over our wrongs or to become self-righteous and proud in our ability to keep rules. Instead of saving us, the Law can lead us to self-hatred and contempt for our neighbours. It is not salvific because it cannot impart love. For this reason, St. Paul urged the Galatians: “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.” (Gal 5:16-18)
Salvation comes only through Jesus, who is the embodiment of the Father’s love-in-freedom. In His passion, death, and resurrection, Jesus revealed the Father’s unconditional love and mercy. Jesus freely surrendered Himself to the Law that condemned Him so that He could set us free from its curse. Through His Paschal Mystery, He poured out the love of the Father into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Salvation is remembering and abiding in God’s love for us. Faith in this love is the foundation of true freedom from sin and the Law, as well as the basis for loving oneself and one’s neighbour.
However, this freedom is ours only if we listen to Jesus–who is greater than Solomon–and accept Him as the Wisdom and Word of God.Hearing the Gospel message, we are called to repentance, like the Ninevites. What hinders us from finding true freedom in Christ is our failure to heed Jesus, the Word of God, unlike the Queen of the South. Many of us take Jesus for granted. We are privileged to have the Word of God, the Eucharist, Reconciliation, and the other Sacraments, yet we often fail to use these gifts to grow in the Spirit. We fail to appreciate Jesus and the means He has bequeathed to the Church. Like the Jews of old, we seek self-justification, or worse, turn to non-Christian sources and New Age philosophies to find healing and freedom from sin and ignorance. Some Catholics have unwittingly adopted methods that emphasise self-salvation through human effort and dubious psychological techniques masked as Christian spirituality. Today’s Scripture readings make it clear: in Christ alone do we find our true freedom, and in Him we must stand firm and “not submit again to a yoke of slavery!”
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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