Who Has Bewitched You?

THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for October 9th, 2014
Opt. Memorial of St. Denis and Companions, Martyrs

Liturgical texts here

“O stupid Galatians! Who has bewitched you…?”

These are the opening words of today’s first reading. And I wonder if St. Paul would repeat them to us as well were he in our midst. For even though Jesus has promised to build His Church on rock, many are convinced today that it’s really just sand. I have received a few letters that essentially say, okay, I hear what you’re saying about the Pope, but I’m still afraid he is saying one thing and doing another. Yes, there is a persistent fear among the ranks that this Pope is going to lead us all into apostasy.

So today, I want to present some simple facts and logic as to why most of the fears I am hearing about the Pope are baseless. For the Father does not want us to be afraid in these times. As today’s Psalm reminds us, the coming of Jesus was our promise to be delivered from fear:

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear.

Jesus said, “the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth.” ^[1]cf. John 4:23 So tell me, how can we worship God “without fear” and in “truth” if we do not know what the truth is? The Father, Jesus taught in today’s Gospel, is a good giver. He does not give us a snake when we ask for a fish. When we prayed for a Savior, the Father did not give us a foolish builder who builds His Church on sand, but Jesus who builds on rock.

With that I want to answer these fears in a separate writing today called, Jesus, the Wise Builder.