Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 13th, 2026

 

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, September 13th, 2026

In the Epistle for today's Mass, we are listening to a section of St. Paul's sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians.  In this section, St. Paul is trying to warn the young church at Galatia not to be swayed by false teachers, some of which were preaching and teaching and vying for followers.  St. Paul writes:  "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Galatians, Chapter 6:14).  As is usually the case, when we read statements in Holy Scripture, normally it is said/written for a reason.  St. Paul's words cited above are no different.  The reason why St. Paul said what he said was because there were certain false teachers only wanting to compel their followers to follow Jewish laws and customs.  In this case, they wanted the men to be circumcised in order to be "more Christian."  These false teachers were more interested in satisfying themselves than they were in serving Our Blessed Lord.  See verses 12 and 13 of this chapter:  " . . .  they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the Cross of Christ.  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh."

St. Paul's point in this:  there is only one thing ultimately that has made a difference in the world . . . . a lasting difference, a permanent difference, if you will . . . and that is the fact that Our Lord was willing to give up His own life for you and for me. He paid the price for OUR sins.  And this is the only thing that will ultimately save us:  His Death on the Cross.  It is this one saving event in the history of the world that has made a permanent, lasting effect for all people: Christ died on the Cross to save you and me from our sins.  Nothing else we can do will save us from our sins, including circumcision, is the point that St. Paul is making.  St. Paul was not condemning the practice of circumcision.  In fact, just the opposite, he says further on this chapter:   ".  . .  .peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." (verse 16)  He is just making the point that signs and symbols and good works and good thoughts . . . .  all of these are fine but none of these will save us.  Only the Cross of Christ has the saving effect for all eternity.  Only Our Lord's Sacrifice on the Cross is the permanent solution to our sinful ways and lifestyle.  He died on the Cross to atone for OUR sins . . .not His! . . .  OUR sins and then He rose again on the third day so that we will have the opportunity to share eternal life with Our Heavenly Father.  We need to keep this thought in our minds each and every day.

So many times we place all of our hopes in things, or actions or events and we are positive that these things will make everything better for us . . . . "Oh, if I can only make it to the weekend, everything will be fine.  Let me make it through this week"  "If I could only get this upgraded computer, everything will go much better, and I could do more things, and it would run faster . . . ."  "If I could only get all of my chores done at the house, then I could  .. . . ."  You see, as human beings, we pin all of our hopes and obtaining certain things or reaching certain goals . . . . whether they be obtaining new jobs, or new homes, or the latest gadgets . . .  and we are sure that everything will be just fine if we only get this certain item.  And this seems to appease us only briefly until we get fixated on getting the next "must-have" item or the next earth-shattering event in our life.  But ultimately, none of these things matter in the course of eternity.  There is only one thing and one thing only that matters for us:  the fact that Christ was willing to die on the Cross to atone for your sins and mine.  That is the single solitary event in the history of the world whose effects are ever-lasting.  Everything else is just temporary.

Please join us as we gather together at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 10:30 am.  Please join us this day and hear the Word of God and give praise and honor to Our Risen Saviour!