Readings:
1 Chronicles 20
Sirach 6
Galatians 2

Galatians 2

Paul recounts a second trip to Jerusalem to submit his ministry to the authority of the apostles established by Christ in Jerusalem. This was so that Paul could not be accused of preaching a different gospel from the original church and showed that instead of being a competing religious group, his ministry was firmly established under the authority of the one church.

He points out that one of his companions, Titus, was a Greek and uncircumcised but was not required to submit to circumcision to be included in the workers of the church. So if he wasn’t required by the Jerusalem authorities, then who are these preachers claiming that all converts must be circumcised?

He also brings up the time he corrected Saint Peter for not practicing what he preached essentially. Peter drew back from fellowship with the gentile believers because he didn’t want to offend the judaizers, an act of appeasement probably in an attempt to keep the peace, but it just made him look weak. And because of his position, Paul felt it necessary to fraternally correct him in public.

Some like to use this incident as a proof that Peter didn’t have a charism of infallibility, but it really just shows that the pope is a human and liable to be wrong in day to day practices. He didn’t teach error, he just failed to live up to his own teachings. That’s called being human. And that’s not contradictory to papal infallibility.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
1 Chronicles 21
Sirach 7
Galatians 3