Today’s Gospel touches on the theme Paul has been developing in the First Readings of this past week: it’s not lineage that puts us in God’s good graces, but faith. That woman in the crowd considers Mary blessed because she is the mother of Christ, but Our Lord knows that the true source of Mary’s blessings is that she has done God’s will, and has done so from the Annuciation to the Assumption and beyond.
The Lord knew that after the Fall humanity would not be able to recover all at once, which is why he gradually prepared them to receive the Gospel in the flesh, his Son. The people of Israel and the Law were means to that end. Humanity had to be helped to achieve a certain spiritual maturity before it could go beyond the Law, which was like someone helping it stay steady as it worked out how to restore the spiritual balance in life.
The “disciplinarian” Paul mentions in today’s First Reading was a mentor in charge of a child’s formation and education in the ancient world. He was like that hand on the back of the bike when you were learning to ride, and some day, perhaps even unperceived, he’d take his hand off the bike and you’d ride alone for the first time and then forever after. When the child grew up the disciplinarian was no longer needed, because he’d been taught how to ride the bike. The laws of balance and gravity would still bring a fall if they weren’t heeded, but now the adult could ride on his own.
A rich life of faith is the same. We are helped to achieve spiritual maturity and then Our Lord lets us roll. That requires faith that if he takes his hand off the bike it is because we are ready. It doesn’t mean we ignore his will, just that we don’t need as much direct help in following it. This is not just a question of physical age: the Galatians were risking immaturity because they were clinging to the Law and losing sight of the Lawgiver. Christian life is a liberation. Ask Our Lord to help you find your balance.
Readings: Galatians 3:22–29; Psalm 105:2–7; Luke 11:27–28. See also 27th Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday.
