All Things for God (Feast of the Holy Family)

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Click here for this Sunday’s OT reading (The Honour of a Father)

In our epistle reading, St. Paul provides instructions to the Colossian Christians on how to live proper Christian lives, so that they may get along better with one another and draw closer to God. The advice he gives in these verses should be seen against the backdrop of verses 5-9, where he lists a number of vices that plagued society around them, and urges the Colossians not to follow them:

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.” (Colossians 3:5-9)

The reason for this change is outlined in verses 10-11. There, Paul reminds readers that they have put on a new self and are being renewed by their Creator. As a result, their old identities have been superseded by a greater one, which is their identity in Christ.

One can see a parallel between this passage and Galatians 5:15-26, where Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit, and urges the Galatians to cultivate the latter and not the former. One can see here a repackaging of the same spiritual advice for the church in Colossae, especially the list of virtues in (v. 12). Aside from this, there is also an admonition to strive for harmonious relations between believers (vv. 15) as well as to always praise and thank God in all things (v. 16).

Underlying this advice is the reminder that in everything we do, we are to live for God and His glory (v. 17). Our character is to reflect the inner work of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that, as Jesus taught, we could be a light to the world which will cause others to glorify God (Matthew 5:13-16).

As we enter a new year, let us pray that the admonitions given by St. Paul will help us to orient our lives around glorifying God, so that we can draw closer to Him and grow in His grace.

J. Luis Dizon