17 In union with the Messiah Yeshua, then, I have reason to be proud of my service to God; 18 for I will not dare speak of anything except what the Messiah has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by my words and deeds, 19 through the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Yerushalayim all the way to Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the Good News of the Messiah. 20 I have always made it my ambition to proclaim the Good News where the Messiah was not yet known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation, 21 but rather, as the Tanakh puts it,
“Those who have not been told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.”[Romans 15:21 Isaiah 52:15]
31st Week in Ordinary Time
I myself am convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness. (Romans 15:14)A strange movement that began in the late 1990s has gained popularity in recent years. The premise is simple: strangers assemble in theaters, bars, and church halls to perform dramatic readings of old diary entries, love letters, and poems. The excerpts range from hilarious to moving to painfully awkward, but one element that most have in common is how direct they are—especially the ones written by children and teenagers!
Look at how direct St. Paul was with the believers in Rome! We may be accustomed to using the term “brothers and sisters” in a church setting, but think about how this would have come across to the original recipients. Paul, a faithful Jew, is calling Gentiles his family?! He is warm and kind to these Romans, almost scandalously so. What’s more, in blunt language he praises them for what they are getting right and corrects them for their mistakes. And these are people he has not even met!
Paul enjoyed being part of an international, multicultural, growing Church. He saw people from so many different backgrounds come to faith through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that’s what gave him the confidence to speak so boldly. He was convinced that this was God’s work, and so God would sustain it.
The Holy Spirit wants to convince us that God is at work today just as powerfully as he was in Paul’s day. He wants to urge us to try to advance the mission of the Church. He wants to tell us the same thing Pope John Paul II said over and over again: “Do not be afraid!”
We may not feel as talented as the apostle Paul, but it’s not too hard for us to speak an encouraging word to a friend. It’s not hard to offer to pray for a neighbor or relative facing a medical crisis. It’s not impossible to forgive a co-worker who has hurt us.
We are a Church on a mission. As Pope Francis has said, sometimes that means going beyond our parish boundaries so that we can draw more people in. May we all commit to building the Church, confident that God is with us, sustaining us at every step.
“Lord, fill me with love for your Church and confidence in your work in it.” Amen!
Psalm 98:(0) A psalm:
(1) Sing a new song to Adonai,
because he has done wonders.
His right hand, his holy arm
have won him victory.
2 Adonai has made known his victory;
revealed his vindication in full view of the nations,
3 remembered his grace and faithfulness
to the house of Isra’el.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
4 Shout for joy to Adonai, all the earth!
Break forth, sing for joy, sing praises!
Luke 16:1 Speaking to the talmidim, Yeshua said: “There was a wealthy man who employed a general manager. Charges were brought to him that his manager was squandering his resources. 2 So he summoned him and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in your accounts, for you can no longer be manager.’
3 “‘What am I to do?’ said the manager to himself. ‘My boss is firing me, I’m not strong enough to dig ditches, and I’m ashamed to go begging. 4 Aha! I know what I’ll do — something that will make people welcome me into their homes after I’ve lost my job here!’
5 “So, after making appointments with each of his employer’s debtors, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my boss?’ 6 ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. ‘Take your note back,’ he told him. ‘Now, quickly! Sit down and write one for four hundred!’ 7 To the next he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. ‘Take your note back and write one for eight hundred.’
8 “And the employer of this dishonest manager applauded him for acting so shrewdly! For the worldly have more sekhel than those who have received the light — in dealing with their own kind of people!
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