Introduction to the Liturgy of the Day

Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

Reflection

• Grace > sin. This is the point that Paul is making to the Romans. As terrible as sin is—for it caused a fundamental separation from God and brought mortality and death—grace is greater. The grace that Jesus won for us on the cross restores our union with God and brings the promise of immortality through eternal life. Grace is stronger than sin for when both are present, grace overcomes sin. Grace overcomes not just the original sin Adam brought into the world; it is able to overcome all human sin. Grace washes our soul clean from sin.

• Last Sunday we heard Jesus send the Twelve out to the countryside of Galilee, instructing them to proclaim: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:7). This is what he is now encouraging them to proclaim from the housetops. However, he has just warned them about persecution. Like Jeremiah, they would hear people denounce them and worse. But God would watch over them, over every little hair on their heads. Proclaiming the immanence of God’s kingdom from the housetops is an acknowledgment that Jesus embodies the kingdom. For this, Jesus assures them that he will acknowledge them in turn.

• Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus all faced persecution, for their values aligned with God’s, not society’s. Jeremiah’s message that Jerusalem’s fall was God’s punishment for the people’s sinfulness did not win him many friends. Indeed, his friends stood ready to take vengeance on him. Paul repeatedly preached a countercultural message across the Gentile world. Jesus found enemies among both religious and political authorities. Tradition holds that Jeremiah was martyred in exile after the fall of Jerusalem, killed by fellow exiles. If this is true, then all three died at the hands of their persecutors. But as Jesus told the Twelve, those who can kill the body but not the soul should not be feared. We have no less an obligation to bear witness to our faith in an often cynical and intolerant world. Our life in the Lord can overcome our very real fears in our day-to-day life.

Question of the Week