3 August 2014
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
It takes profound personal experience to be able to say: “I am convinced!”
In today's reading, Paul's voice comes to us from the time near the end of his second missionary journey. Paul has heard of the concerns of the young community at Rome. He desires to visit them, to offer encouragement in their struggles. But when he goes to Rome he will go in chains. By that time Paul has undergone struggles of his own: torture, starvation, persecution for his faith, and shipwreck. Because of his profound personal experiences, Paul can proclaim with the deepest conviction: “I am convinced that nothing can separate me from the love of God poured forth in Jesus Christ!”
As we examine the entire passage, let us not be confused by Paul’s use of “principalities and angels.” In his day these terms designated otherworldly pagan powers. “Future things” suggested astrological forces. The terms “powers, height and depth” referred to planetary influences. These unseen forces were little understood and much feared. While such elements may be foreign to our current thinking, the point Paul makes with deepest conviction is that not even the greatest forces—seen or unseen--can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus!If only our personal experience of suffering and hardship would lead us to the place of peaceful conviction Paul has found. If only our trials would draw us closer to Christ, rather than distance us from God by our confusion, anger and despair. If only we would find the courage of conviction that Paul found.
The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, the Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.
