Reflection on Galatians 5:16–24 and Matthew 6:24–33
Feria Quarta infra Hebdomadam XIV post Octavam Pentecostes
Commemoratio: Impressionis Stigmatum S. Francisci
Today’s Mass readings draw us into the perennial conflict between the desires of the flesh and the liberty of the Spirit, between worldly solicitude and the providence of God. Providence has it that this feria falls upon the commemoration of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, a saint who bore in his very body the marks of Christ’s victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. The juxtaposition could not be more fitting.
The Flesh Wars Against the Spirit
In the Epistle (Gal 5:16–24), St. Paul sets before us two paths: the way of the flesh and the way of the Spirit. The works of the flesh he lists are as a grim catalogue of fallen man’s slavery to passion—“fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, idolatry, enmities, contentions…” Each of these disorders closes the heart to God and makes man unfit for His kingdom.
St. John Chrysostom remarks that Paul’s enumeration is not exhaustive but exemplary:
“He does not mean to say that only these are works of the flesh, but he mentions those which are most conspicuous, so that by them you may understand the rest.” (Homilies on Galatians, 5)
In contrast, the Apostle gives us the fruit of the Spirit: charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. These are not works that man performs by his own strength, but fruits that blossom when the Spirit dwells within. As St. Augustine teaches:
“The tree is the love within us, from which such fruits proceed. If we love, we will have joy; if we love, we will have peace; if we love, we will have patience.” (Tractates on John, 40)
Serving Two Masters
In the Gospel (Matt 6:24–33), Our Lord warns us that “No man can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and mammon.” Anxiety for earthly things enslaves the soul, chaining it to passing goods. But the Christian is invited to a higher confidence: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.”
St. Cyprian of Carthage, writing in the days of persecution, exhorts the faithful in words that echo Christ’s teaching:
“Let us lift up our eyes from earth to heaven; let us not cling to temporal things but hasten to eternal things, since the Lord has taught us to seek not riches but the kingdom of God.” (Treatise on the Lord’s Prayer, 21)
To seek the kingdom is to walk in the Spirit, to place our trust not in possessions but in Providence, not in our schemes but in the Father who feeds the birds and clothes the lilies.
The Stigmata of St. Francis: A Living Witness
How timely, then, that today we commemorate the wondrous impression of the Sacred Stigmata upon St. Francis. In him we see the man who embraced the poverty of Christ, who sought first the kingdom, and who in turn was conformed so intimately to the Crucified that he bore His wounds. St. Bonaventure relates:
“The marks of nails began to appear in his hands and feet, as if they had been made by nails driven through. His side was marked with a wound, red and bloody, as though pierced by a lance.” (Legenda Maior, XIII)
Francis crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, and in return, the Spirit adorned him with the very fruit of the Cross. He stands as a living commentary on today’s readings—showing that when man renounces the works of the flesh and trusts in God’s providence, he becomes a true image of Christ.
Conclusion
The lesson of this feria is clear: the Christian cannot walk with one foot in the flesh and the other in the Spirit, nor serve both God and mammon. We are called to renounce anxiety, mortify the flesh, and live by the Spirit. And if we do so faithfully, we will bear fruit in time and perhaps—like St. Francis—be made to resemble our Crucified Lord more than we ever dared to imagine.