Just recently, we have been hearing from different prophets in the Old Testament in our first readings in daily Mass. For the next several weeks, our first readings will be from St Paul’s letter to the Romans from the New Testament. Scripture scholars believe that the letter to the Romans is chronologically the last letter written by Paul of all the letters of his that we have in the New Testament. It is a summary of Paul’s thoughts and theology. While many of the letters that Paul wrote, such as to the community in Corinth, were written to communities that he founded, Paul did not found the community in Roman, and at the time of the writing of this letter, it appears that he had not even visited this community yet. I find it interesting that Paul begins this letter by saying that he is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Yet, in Paul’s day, as in our day, the Gospel meets a lot of opposition and ridicule. When I first became a priest, I did not realize how because I am a Catholic priest in the Bible Belt South, I would be faced with scorn and ridicule by some. I have certainly experienced that at certain times in my priesthood. Paul also speaks of God’s power for the salvation of everyone who has faith, Jews and Greeks. This is an important theme in his letter to the Romans. When Paul speaks of not being ashamed of the Gospel, perhaps he thinks of Rome, which at the time was the prosperous capital of a huge empire and the center of pagan worship. Paul was subject to ridicule and persecution in many places where he preached the Gospel, that we know. Faith is at the understanding of Paul’s message. Paul saw faith as a necessary condition of salvation and as our human response to the truth and goodness of God. Faith requires our belief in Jesus as the son of God, in the new life that Christ offers us. Yes, the themes of Paul’s letter to the Romans are certainly relevant to us today and certainly give us a lot to think about.
No comments:
Post a Comment