Reading:
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Write:
What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? … No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Reflect:
Every priest, every preacher, has his favorite sections of Scripture to preach from. The church gives us one of mine this weekend.
Our reading from Romans this weekend is one of the most powerful sections of St. Paul’s writings. He and the early church were facing many persecutions, and it is most probable that Paul was on his way to Rome to face his own death when he wrote this.
We are facing an increase in persecution and in violence within our own country. Churches have been burned under suspicious circumstances, statues have been beheaded – one even of Jesus. Our Lady has been mocked, and statues of her defaced. This list could go on describing the different abominations committed against God and his church.
There are those who are very concerned about whether or not our country will continue to support religious freedom. I would not say I am “very concerned”, but I am concerned. I believe we are headed for even more problems regarding being able to witness to the gospel.
But this is what St. Paul was talking about. He knew the power persecution. But he also knew the power of the gospel. At the very beginning of his letter to the Romans, Paul states very boldly: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…”
In today’s reading he is making his case more forcefully. I cannot help but repeat it. It is such a powerful statement of witness.
“What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? … No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
These lines from St. Paul should be rallying cries for today’s Christian people. We face an enemy that has been fighting humanity from the beginning of time. It is not simply the anarchists that we see tearing down things in our society. No, it is the Prince of darkness. It is the devil.
Never let it be said however that I want to turn people into “demon chasers.” However if we do not recognize that we face a foe that desires our destruction, and desires to tear us away from a God who loves us, we run the risk of falling away, either because of fear or apathy.
Apply:
In St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, we hear him again understanding the kind of warfare that we have to engage in. “For, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses.”
These fortresses are forces of darkness that are in our world. Make no mistake. We are facing a battle for the souls of people, many of whom are within our own families. Our secular society has deceived and distorted, even tried to destroy what God would build up in the hearts of his people.
Going even further into St. Paul, I would quote from Ephesians chapter 6: “Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
To finish today, let me draw those words out for what St. Paul says is the armor of God: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the word of God.
I do not have time today to spend more on these particular parts of the armor of God. But it is a good study in and of itself.
Let anything try to come against us. The promise of Jesus is that he will be with his church to the end of days. He will not go against his promise, though there may be times when we face such terrible persecutions that it seems as though we might have been abandoned. But just remember what St. Paul said in the reading today: “…in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen.
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Write:
What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? … No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Reflect:
Every priest, every preacher, has his favorite sections of Scripture to preach from. The church gives us one of mine this weekend.
Our reading from Romans this weekend is one of the most powerful sections of St. Paul’s writings. He and the early church were facing many persecutions, and it is most probable that Paul was on his way to Rome to face his own death when he wrote this.
We are facing an increase in persecution and in violence within our own country. Churches have been burned under suspicious circumstances, statues have been beheaded – one even of Jesus. Our Lady has been mocked, and statues of her defaced. This list could go on describing the different abominations committed against God and his church.
There are those who are very concerned about whether or not our country will continue to support religious freedom. I would not say I am “very concerned”, but I am concerned. I believe we are headed for even more problems regarding being able to witness to the gospel.
But this is what St. Paul was talking about. He knew the power persecution. But he also knew the power of the gospel. At the very beginning of his letter to the Romans, Paul states very boldly: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…”
In today’s reading he is making his case more forcefully. I cannot help but repeat it. It is such a powerful statement of witness.
“What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? … No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
These lines from St. Paul should be rallying cries for today’s Christian people. We face an enemy that has been fighting humanity from the beginning of time. It is not simply the anarchists that we see tearing down things in our society. No, it is the Prince of darkness. It is the devil.
Never let it be said however that I want to turn people into “demon chasers.” However if we do not recognize that we face a foe that desires our destruction, and desires to tear us away from a God who loves us, we run the risk of falling away, either because of fear or apathy.
Apply:
In St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, we hear him again understanding the kind of warfare that we have to engage in. “For, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses.”
These fortresses are forces of darkness that are in our world. Make no mistake. We are facing a battle for the souls of people, many of whom are within our own families. Our secular society has deceived and distorted, even tried to destroy what God would build up in the hearts of his people.
Going even further into St. Paul, I would quote from Ephesians chapter 6: “Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
To finish today, let me draw those words out for what St. Paul says is the armor of God: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the word of God.
I do not have time today to spend more on these particular parts of the armor of God. But it is a good study in and of itself.
Let anything try to come against us. The promise of Jesus is that he will be with his church to the end of days. He will not go against his promise, though there may be times when we face such terrible persecutions that it seems as though we might have been abandoned. But just remember what St. Paul said in the reading today: “…in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen.
