FIRST READING: Numbers 6: 22–27 – The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron and his sons, These are the words of blessing which are to be used by you in blessing the children of Israel; say to them: May the Lord send his blessing on you and keep you; May the light of the Lord’s face be shining on you in grace; May the Lord’s approval be resting on you and may he give you peace. So they will put my name on the children of Israel, and I will give them my blessing.’
SECOND READING: Galatians 4: 4–7 – When the time had come, God sent out his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that he might make them free who were under the law, and that we might be given the place of sons. And because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, saying, Abba, Father. So that you are no longer a servant, but a son; and if a son, then the heritage of God is yours.
GOSPEL: Luke 2: 16–21 – The keepers of sheep came quickly, and saw Mary and Joseph, and the child in the place where the cattle had their food. And when they saw it, they gave them an account of the things which had been said to them about the child. And all those to whose ears it came were full of wonder at the things said by the keepers of the sheep. But Mary kept all these words in her heart, and gave much thought to them. Then the keepers of the sheep went back, giving glory and praise to God for all the things which had come to their ears and which they had seen, as it had been said to them. And when, after eight days, the time came for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given to him before his birth.
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The blessing which the Lord showers on his people is for them to be free. The Book of Numbers, one of the five books of Moses (or the Torah), clearly proclaims the freedom of the children of God. They should not succumb to fear or doubt or timidity, for theirs is the freedom of the Spirit of God himself.
This is also proclaimed by Paul: Jesus has set free those who were formerly under the law. Though his direct reference is to the law of Moses, he nevertheless proclaims that God’s sons and daughters are freed from any other law or constraint. There is no limit to their love, no frontiers, no boundaries. Their love is universal.
In the gospel Luke does not miss the fact that Jesus has been circumcised. This bound him to the law of Moses and to prescribed constraint. Nevertheless, Jesus was never limited in his love. Many a time he actually contradicted Moses’ laws, at least in the way that they had been understood by the priests and scribes. God’s law does not constrain. Its universal nature brings down all barriers and frontiers. This is the love for which we are called.
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