22nd Week in Ord. Time, Wednesday – 06th September 2023 – Col 1,1-8; Lk 4,38-44
Christened as Saints
In the first reading, Paul begins his letter to the faith community at Colossae. He recognizes their faith in the Lord Jesus as preached first by one of their own, Epaphras, a fellow servant-minister with Paul. The letter is addressed to “the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.” Paul frequently calls the members of the Christian communities as “saints or holy ones”. It is a term which includes the Old Testament idea of the people of God, but here also expresses a relationship with Christ. He highlights that they have been called by God to union with Christ and have experienced the spiritual benefits of this union. The awareness of this union helps them to be “faithful brothers and sisters in Christ”. And Paul mentions their spiritual union “in Christ” no less than 13 times in the course of the letter. The task implied in their calling is that they need to be united with Christ and dedicated to working together with the members of the community.
