October 1, 2021

Following up on yesterday’s theme (He must increase, I must decrease), St. Paul sees John the Baptist and raises the stakes. Here is Paul’s take. 

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

The decrease continues to its terminal point: I no longer live. Paul’s message is that our life in Christ is everything! And we live in gratitude for His death on the cross for us. This is in stark contrast to the way of the world: assertion of rights, exultation of the self, insistence on identity. So clamorous, so tiresome, especially in myself.

Come, Lord Jesus!

“Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Proper 22 – BCP)