During his General Audience, Pope Francis shared that Christians are set free from the precepts of the Law of Moses due to their faith in the Gospel.
The Pope cited Saint Paul's Letter to the Galatians to demonstrate the “newness of Christian life,” which is moved by the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts instead of the Law.
Through Christ's passion, death, and resurrection, the Pope says, the Holy Spirit “brings the Law to fulfillment in the new commandment of love.”
SUMMARY OF THE POPE'S CATECHESIS IN ENGLISH:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our continuing catechesis on Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, we have seen the Apostle insist on the newness of the Christian life, thanks to the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
Against those who urged the Galatians to obey the precepts of the Law of Moses, Paul replies that the Law was always in the service of God’s Covenant with his people. The Covenant was itself based not on the observance of the Law but on faith in the fulfillment of God’s promises.
Now that God has definitively fulfilled those promises in the paschal mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, those who believe in the Gospel are set free from the demands of the Law. The newness of the Christian life, then, is born of our response to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, who brings the Law to fulfillment in the new commandment of love.
I cordially greet the English-speaking faithful. As we prepare to celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I entrust you and your families to her maternal intercession, that she may guide us on our pilgrim way to the fullness of Christ’s promises. May God bless you!
JM
