Word to the Wise
Thursday, October 17, 2019 - Thursday in the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 3:21-30 and Luke 11:47-54]What occasion is there then for boasting? It is ruled out. On what principle, that of works? No, rather on the principle of faith. For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Does God belong to Jews alone? Does he not belong to Gentiles, too? Yes, also to Gentiles, for God is one and will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith and the uncircumcised through faith. [Romans]
OCTOBER 17 ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, bishop and martyr
The fundamental principle of St. Paul's Letter to the Romans is that faith is a gift from God and not something that is earned or awarded on the basis of anything that we have done. It is an offer made to everyone, Jew and Greek (non-Jew) alike. We have only to accept it and then live in its light. God revealed this gift decisively in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Yes, there are those who have not been evangelized or even know about Christ or God or the Bible. Yet, the rays of revelation will find their way to them in God's own decision. It is not for us to judge but only to accept the revelation that is offered to us. The Catholic Church is a community of believers that proclaims this revelation through worship and ministry. There are more than a billion of us and yet there are places waiting yet for God's revelation to be proclaimed so that God's grace, which is everywhere, may be realized by those who have unknowingly received it. The Letter to the Romans will offer us a lot more to think about. AMEN
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