Elija Mission

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.

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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.

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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).

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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).

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Rom 2:17-29

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the law and boast of your relation to God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed in the law, and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.

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Rom 2:3-11

Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

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For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. Read More

Having meditated on the entire Gospel of Saint John and the Acts of the Apostles, and after turning our attention to the Holy Spirit in the context of Pentecost, I would like to focus on Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans over the next few weeks.

Of all his epistles, this is the most complete and is also known as the ‘Testament of Saint Paul’. We will not read the entire text, but only the most important passages that lend themselves to commentary.

I take this opportunity to recommend that you read this letter of Saint Paul in its entirety and thus put into practice the advice to read the Holy Scriptures daily, which is so beneficial.

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If the gift of understanding enables us to penetrate the divine mysteries, the gift of wisdom grants us a “delightful” knowledge of God. “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” -exclaims the psalmist (Ps 34:8). First he invites us to taste, and only then to see.

The gift of wisdom gives us an experience of the heart, it allows us a glimpse of God’s love through the heart. That is why we say that it is a “spiritual tasting” of divine love.

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