There is no Jew or Greek, because all of you are one in Christ Jesus (Gal 3,25-29)
Reflection by Sister Enrica Solmi on Galati 3.25-29 held in online prayer in the Week of prayer for the victims of homophobia and transphobia of 16 may 2021
Faith comes, we are no longer under a pedagogue. In fact, all of you are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, since those you have been baptized in Christ have covered yourself with Christ. There is no Jew or Greek; There is no slave or free; There is no male and female, because all of you are one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are the descent of Abraham, heirs according to the promise. (Gal 3,25-29)
We came on the eve of the World Day against Homophobia where we remember the moment when homosexuality was removed from mental illness by the World Health Organization (17 May 1990) and to express the refusal against the discrimination and the criminalization of whom It expresses one's sexuality and affectivity towards people of their own sex. The text of Galatians 3.25-29 will guide us for this evening who accompanied all the Vigils of last year.
"But as soon as the faith has come, we are no longer under a pedagogue. In fact, all of you are children of God for faith in Christ Jesus, since those who have been baptized in Christ, you have covered yourself with Christ. There is no more Jew or Greek; There is no more slave or free; There is no more man or woman, since all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are the descent of Abraham, heirs according to the promise"
I put my attention on verse 28 which I would define as the verse of the fall of the barriers. Being of Christ, children of God entails the consequences of the Community order that Paul expresses with a programmatic phrase: «There is no Jew or Greek; There is no slave or free; There is no male and female, because all of you are one in Christ Jesus»(V. 28).
With these words he proclaims the abolition, in Christ, of three barriers that divide human beings, on a religious level, between Jew and Greek, on a civil level, between slave and free man, on the sexual level, between male and female.
On the religious level there is no longer "judeo nor greek». This is the first and the most important of the barriers demolished by baptism. In Christ, every distinction is overcome, because those who are united in faith to the risen Jesus belongs to a third category, which is that of "new creation»(Gal 6:15), equally accessible to Greek and Jew, given that the only condition to enter it is faith in the dead and risen Christ.
The second barrier concerns not so much the civil plan, but rather the social one: "There is no slave or free". The distinction between slaves and free citizens was fundamental for the entire organization of society in the Greek-Roman world.
Free men enjoyed all political and civil rights; The slaves were devoid of rights and dignity. Paolo mentions the slave first, because he wants to highlight the overcoming of this condition of oppression, unworthy of a human person. In the Risen Christ, every believer enjoys the full dignity of man.
The third and final barrier is the one that concerns sexual difference.
The body of Christ is formed by many limbs where everyone is different, but in him we are one person and we can call ourselves brothers and sisters. We must recognize the diversity and sexual and gender differences to give everyone an equal dignity. Keeping walls to build places where you can live and express your sexual orientation by feeling welcomed and loved for what you are, which is beauty.
To do this, it is also necessary to remove the disparity factors, the cultural and social barriers. We are afraid of diversity, because it is a challenge. It is more convenient to put aside, separate, distinguish.
Jesus constitutes his community starting from the differences of gifts of his apostles and disciples, gifts that become the glue of the community. Paul, in the letter to the Galati, chases a dream: to be all a single body in the Lord Jesus, united with the language of love and forgiveness, words that abolish social, race and gender differences.
