Over the past few months, we have systematically worked our way through the Gospel of John, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Letter to the Romans. Starting today, I will return to meditating on the daily reading or gospel. I have already meditated on many of the daily readings in recent years, so at times I will draw on reflections from past years. Occasionally, I will also take the readings according to the traditional calendar, that is, those read at the Tridentine Mass.
Mt 8:28-34 Read More
Rom 14:5-6
One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
In his next instructions to the Christian community of Rome, St. Paul intends to avoid unnecessary discord. It is important to distinguish whether what is at stake is the truth or simply differing opinions. The truth must be firmly defended. On the other hand, differing views can be allowed in second-order matters and should not give rise to quarrels. Evidently, there were disputes in the Christian community about whether meat could be eaten. It is likely that it was especially the Judeo-Christians who were concerned about this issue, since meat could have been sacrificed to idols.
Rom 13:1-7
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
Rom 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Rom 10:15-21
How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!” But they have not all heeded the gospel; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” Read More
Rom 9:1-5
I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed for ever. Amen.
These words offer us a profound insight into the heart of the Apostle. He suffers for the people from whom he himself comes. It is a very intense spiritual suffering. Paul himself received the grace of conversion and knows very well what God did for him by opening the door to Christ. We know that he was called as an apostle to the ministry of preaching and that he worked tirelessly to bring the Gospel everywhere, but always first to the Jews. However, when he perceived the obstinacy of his own people, who were increasingly persecuting him and trying to hinder the mission entrusted to him, he turned to the Gentiles.
Rom 8:14-17
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
St. Paul reminds the Christians of Rome of the great grace that is at work in them through faith. They are children of God, and it is the Spirit Himself who bears witness to this, He who has become their guide. He assures them of their divine filiation and makes them recognise that they have a most loving Father.
At the beginning of the sixth chapter of the Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul explains that, through baptism, we share in the death and resurrection of Christ and that, from that moment on, we must walk a new life. This new life requires an effort on our part to detach ourselves from our old, sinful and vain life. Thus writes the Apostle:
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (Rom 6:11-14).
Rom 4:13-17
The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants—not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Read More
“So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.” (2 Pet 3:15b-16)
I begin today’s meditation by quoting these words of Saint Peter, because, in fact, the next chapters of the Letter to the Romans are not easy to understand. Therefore, I take the liberty of summarising them and trying to convey their essential content in an understandable way. To do this, I will also draw on the comments in the Allioli-Arndt Catholic Bible. In addition, I recommend that everyone read the following chapters in their entirety to gain a more comprehensive understanding. If necessary, it is also advisable to consult additional commentaries. In the third chapter, Saint Paul begins by expounding on the privileges of the Jewish religion, which, incidentally, do not come into play if the Mosaic Law is not observed. If this happens, then they enjoy no privileges, because ‘all, Jews and Greeks alike, are under the power of sin’ (Rom 3:9).
