Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom
September 13, 2023
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Colossians 3:1-11
Being saved consists in sharing in the risen life of the risen Christ. But there are consequences. Everything is not concluded at baptism. We must re-orient ourselves to consistency with the risen life of Christ, and eradicate from our earthly life whatever is inconsistent with life in Christ.
Paul offers a list of changes that life in Christ demands: no more anger, no more lying, no more obscenity. You have to be remade in the image of Christ. Human distinctions are irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if you are Jew or Gentile, slave or free, or even Scythian–the most barbaric of the barbarians. Being in Christ, living in Christ is all that counts.
That was the Christian agenda for the Colossians. It’s our agenda, too.
