August 23, 2014 - Saturday

For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26 NABRE)


As parents, we want health and happiness for our children.  We routinely place their needs above our own.  We teach them, play with them, laugh and cry with them, discipline them, hold them, listen to them, and share life with them.  Some parents adopt their children, and what a special gift that can be--a chance to show a child they were loved so much they were chosen.  And as heirs, children inherit what belongs to their parents.

Today's verse comes from a short section in which Saint Paul describes his fellow Christians as children of God, [because they are] baptized into Christ, [and as a result]...are all Abraham’s descendant[s] and heirs of the promise to Abraham.*

So it is because of our faith in Jesus Christ that Saint Paul calls us God's children.  Saint Paul often writes about faith.  In another letter, he tells us that "Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen."*   By keeping faithful, God considers us heirs to his promises.  He considers us his children.

Historically, Saint Paul's letter to the Church at Galatia was written about twenty years after Jesus' Ascension.

Today, I will allow myself to experience the joy that comes with faithfulness to God.


Saint Rose of Lima, patron of the Americas, pray for us.