Word to the Wise
Monday, October 24, 2011 - Monday in the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 8:12-17 and Luke 13:10-17]For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry "Abba, Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are chldren of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
I never dreamed that when I studied law at Tulane University in New Orleans that I would discover why St. Paul concludes that we are "joint heirs with Christ" St. Paul was born and raised in a Roman colony, Tarsus in Cilicia. He was a Roman citizen. This fact saved his life on one occasion [Acts 22:25] and also allowed him to "appeal to Caesar" [Acts 25:11] when he was arrested in Jerusalem, which meant he would be taken to Rome where he was martyred. As a Roman citizen he would be familiar with the feature of Roman law (shared by the Louisiana legal system and most of the world that is non-English in its legal traditions) that requires that a parent leave a certain amount of their estate to their children. In Louisiana, we call it "forced heirship." This feature serves as a handy analogy to his audience in Rome! They would know also about "forced heirship!" An adopted child inherited equally with the natural born children of a person.
Our baptism identifies us with Christ, and therefore we have the same "Abba, Father!" We are children of God and therefore "brothers and sisters" - joint heirs - with Christ as long as we are identified with him in his suffering and death. (Cf. Romans 6:3-4). The same feature of Roman law also protected the children by restricting the right of a parent to "disinherit" a child. Those restrictions (e.g. in case of failure to take care of parents in need, or marrying without permission) would be well known. Thus God is "committed" to his "heirs" as long as we are faithful children. AMEN