Romans 4: 13, 16-18, 22 (Saturday March 15, 2008 – Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of Mary)

Do we follow Jesus because we have faith in him or do we follow him because we are afraid we will go to hell? We Catholics sometimes get fixated on laws. We like so much the language of obligation. I have to go to church on Sunday to fulfill my Sunday obligation; I have to go to church on the feast of the Immaculate Conception to fulfill my holy day of obligation. True and convicted Christians do not go to church because they are obliged to, they go because they have a relationship with Jesus and they know that in order to sustain this relationship, they need to be where he is with his people. It is this faith in Jesus that matters and not laws. The laws are not there to replace our personal relationship with Jesus, their purpose is to guide and strengthen us in this relationship.

We have to be careful not to take our gaze away from this relationship and concentrate on the laws. This is the situation St. Paul is facing with the people of Romans. They have reduced true religion to observing the Jewish laws and in a sense made religion more an external thing than what comes from within. Abraham was credited righteousness because of his faith in God. St. Joseph whose feast we celebrate today also had faith in God and did not go ahead to give Mary a bill of divorce.

How has your faith led you to righteousness?