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Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Galatians 3:1–5
Saint Paul asks the Galatians a sharp question:
Who has bewitched you?
It is a strong word.
To be bewitched means to be captivated,
controlled,
led away from what is true.
Paul is not speaking about magic only.
He is speaking about a deeper danger.
Someone has captured the hearts of the Galatians.
Someone has turned them away from the Gospel.
They began well.
They heard the Gospel.
They believed.
They received the Holy Spirit.
They experienced the power of God.
But then, other voices came.
Those voices told them:
Faith in Christ is not enough.
Grace is not enough.
The Spirit is not enough.
You must rely on something else.
Paul cannot accept this.
For him, to leave the Spirit and return to human effort
is to forget the cross.
It is to forget grace.
It is to forget how Christian life begins.
So Paul asks:
Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law,
or by believing what you heard?
This question is also for us.
Who or what bewitches us today?
Consumerism?
Social media?
The need to be admired?
Political anger?
New ideologies?
Fear?
The desire to control everything?
Many things can capture our hearts.
Many things can make us forget Christ.
Many things can lead us away from the simplicity of the Gospel.
We too can begin well.
We can start with prayer,
with faith,
with joy,
with a real experience of God.
But slowly, we begin to rely on ourselves.
Our plans.
Our methods.
Our strength.
Our achievements.
Even in mission, we can forget the Holy Spirit.
Even in Church work, we can act as if everything depends on our cleverness.
But the Church began at Pentecost.
Not with a strategy.
Not with a program.
Not with human power.
The Church began when the Holy Spirit came down.
Saint Paul reminds us:
the Christian life begins with the Spirit,
and it must continue with the Spirit.
There is no substitute for the power of Christ’s Spirit.
The Holy Spirit changes what human strength cannot change.
He gives courage.
He gives wisdom.
He heals wounds.
He turns sinners into disciples.
So today, let us learn from the Galatians.
Let us not begin with the Spirit
and then try to finish by our own strength.
Let us ask daily for the Holy Spirit.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Fill the hearts of Your faithful.
Enkindle in us the fire of Your love.
Lead us back to Christ,
to grace,
and to the truth of the Gospel.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Content License
© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
(Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).