Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 484

As long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. 
Indeed I shall continue to rejoice,
for I know that this will result in deliverance for me through your prayers and support from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

The Roman jails might not have been as cruel as American jails but they represented a severe inconvenience to Saint Paul. Despite his freedom to write his important letters to the churches, and the necessary support he had from the local church which provided food and other necessities, he had to wait for the magistrates to decide what to do with him. He could not preach in the synagogues on the Sabbath, celebrate the "breaking of bread" with the church, nor set out for another city. 

But he was the freest of men as he rejoiced in proclaiming Christ. He could as readily share the good news with jailers and fellow prisoners as he did in the streets, homes, and synagogues. His being jailed for preaching the gospel was no disgrace, and it represented a challenging conundrum to the authorities who must deal with this obvious injustice. So why should he worry? 

"Indeed,' he said, "I shall continue to rejoice."

Freedom, for Saint Paul, was life in the Spirit. If there were circumstances that might deprive him of the Spirit, they were certainly not Roman jails. In fact he seemed to laugh about his suffering as he enumerated the toil, hunger, thirst, floggings, shipwrecks, and challenges of his distinguished career. 

These inconveniences only assured him that he was walking the path of Jesus Christ, and carrying the crosses he'd been assigned. 

"I must be doing something right!" he might have said as he looked back on all the setbacks he'd suffered. 

Freedom to the Christian bears little resemblance to the parody most Americans make of it. They're notion of freedom is the right to be let alone, to use the expression of Chief Justice Louis D. Brandeis. The judge said this despite the appearance of religion as the foremost freedom in the first Amendment: 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. 

I often meet Americans who still believe and hope in the promise of the American Constitution; they believe its foundation is the Gospel. 

I do not argue with them but I might remind them that the Gospel challenges every culture and civilization. We can practice some allegiance to every government that permits our freedom to practice our faith, even as we retain the freedom to preach the Truth to an indifferent, suspicious, or hostile nation. The Gospel makes everyone uncomfortable, including hypocrites, antagonists, and the faithful. In fact the discomfort we feel is its mark of authenticity. When the gospel fails to irritate, we'll know its not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Saint Paul rejoiced in his incarceration as he cooled his heels in a Roman jail. He found the Holy Spirit and knew the freedom of the Crucified in that uncomfortable place.