Daily Retreat 10/15/07
2007 Oct 15 Mon: Teresa of Avila, v, r, dr M
Rom 1: 1-7/ Ps 98: 1. 2-3ab. 3cd-4/ Lk 11: 29-32
From today’s readings: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.... The Lord has made known His salvation.... At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here!”
The Roman Crown
Paul wrote more of the Bible than anyone else, and of all his letters, the epistle to the Romans is unanimously hailed as his masterpiece. That’s not to say, of course, that his other letters are "second-rate" - only that the letter to the Romans stands out as the longest and theologically richest. The other church communities Paul wrote to had been founded by him, or at least were well known personally to him. For this reason, in writing to the Romans, Paul needed to present himself and his teachings more explicitly than in other letters - and that’s helpful to us as well!
On the other hand, Paul’s writing can indeed be so dense - he wanted to be sure to not leave anything out, and he occasionally pre-empted misunderstandings he was expecting by going into excruciating details about matters which seem tangential to us. So, as we read through this letter (Romans will be the daily first reading almost continuously well into November), don’t be frustrated if some sections are hard to wade through - in fact, shelves of commentaries have been written to debate what Paul meant in certain key verses!
Notice how his greeting (today’s reading) focuses almost entirely on Jesus, revealing only the bare minimum about Paul himself. The Apostle certainly had his priorities straight, so even his greeting sets a good example for everything we do!
Rom 1: 1-7/ Ps 98: 1. 2-3ab. 3cd-4/ Lk 11: 29-32
From today’s readings: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.... The Lord has made known His salvation.... At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here!”
The Roman Crown
Paul wrote more of the Bible than anyone else, and of all his letters, the epistle to the Romans is unanimously hailed as his masterpiece. That’s not to say, of course, that his other letters are "second-rate" - only that the letter to the Romans stands out as the longest and theologically richest. The other church communities Paul wrote to had been founded by him, or at least were well known personally to him. For this reason, in writing to the Romans, Paul needed to present himself and his teachings more explicitly than in other letters - and that’s helpful to us as well!
On the other hand, Paul’s writing can indeed be so dense - he wanted to be sure to not leave anything out, and he occasionally pre-empted misunderstandings he was expecting by going into excruciating details about matters which seem tangential to us. So, as we read through this letter (Romans will be the daily first reading almost continuously well into November), don’t be frustrated if some sections are hard to wade through - in fact, shelves of commentaries have been written to debate what Paul meant in certain key verses!
Notice how his greeting (today’s reading) focuses almost entirely on Jesus, revealing only the bare minimum about Paul himself. The Apostle certainly had his priorities straight, so even his greeting sets a good example for everything we do!
posted by FrPitstick | 10/13/2007
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