Meditation Two Hundred Seventy Eight

The Fifth Week of June 2008 

God’s Grace through the Redemption in Jesus Christ 

 Begin with prayer to the Holy Spirit 

Reading : Romans 3:21-31, Genesis 15, Galatians 2:16

     In last week’s meditation we reflected on the importance of mankind being held accountable for their sins. This week’s meditation St. Paul depicts how people can gain a right relationship with God let us continue with our sacred scripture study.

     St. Paul addresses the importance in being in a right relationship with God established by faith through Jesus Christ for all who believe. Paul stresses …there is no distinction all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. St. Paul speaks in reference to both the Jew and the Gentile as sinners and that there are no exceptions. Paul makes it clear that God is a God for the Jew and the Gentile. In verse 30 Paul refers back to monotheism since God is one God He is God for all. He will justify the circumcised meaning the Jew on the grounds of their faith. He will justify the uncircumcised Gentile by their faith. God is faithful and the Messiah Jesus Christ is faithful to the Law and in fulfilling what the scriptures revealed. Does this mean that the law will be discarded? Paul reassures his readers that the law will be upheld. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17"Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. 

     "The glory of God refers to when Adam was created and reflected God’s glory. His image was marred due to the corruption of sin.  Sin impedes our true character that would have reflected Gods glory. As we look back and read in Sacred Scripture God establishes a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. And it is Jesus the Messiah who fulfills this covenant by his death and resurrection. His crucifixion is where the justice of God is demonstrated to the world. The cross of Christ is central to Paul’s message it is the fulfillment of the covenant. The fulfillment of this covenant is opened to all Jews and Gentiles that believe. God's grace is a gift due to the redemption and shedding our Lords blood to be received by faith. We see God's divine plan for redemption unfold. This week let us think about the grace of God and the gift of redemption. We have a merciful Savior that gives us faith, hope, and love as we seek daily to do His holy will.

Quotation for Meditation

 “In the first place, Paul helps us to understand the absolutely basic and irreplaceable value of faith. This is what he wrote in his Letter to the Romans: “We hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.” Romans 3:28. This is what he also wrote in his Letter to the Galatians: “[M]an is not justified by works of the law but only through faith in Jesus Christ; even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. Galatians 2:16. “Being justified” means being made righteous, that is, being accepted by God’s merciful justice to enter into communion with him and, consequently, to be able to establish a far more genuine relationship with all our brethren: and this takes place on the basis of the complete forgiveness of our sins. Well, Paul states with absolute clarity that this condition of life does not depend on our possible good works but on the pure grace of God: “[We] are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:24. With these words St. Paul expressed the fundamental content of his conversion, the new direction his life took as a result of his encounter with the Risen Christ…”

      Pope Benedict XVI, The Origins of the Church the Apostles and their

Co- Workers, Huntington , Indiana , Our Sunday Visitor, Pg.128

Quiet Time and Then Discussion

Questions for Meditation

1.  Who is the Old Testament figure that God establishes a covenant with?

2.  What does the glory of God refer to? 

3.  What is the central message Paul is conveying in this passage?

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Prayer 

     Glorious, St. Paul, from being a persecutor of the Christian name, you became its most zealous apostle. To make Jesus, our Divine Savior, known to the uttermost parts of the earth, you suffered prison, scourging, stoning, shipwreck, and all manner of persecution, and shed the last drop of your blood. Obtain for us the grace to accept the infirmities, sufferings, and misfortunes of this life as favors of the divine mercy. So may we never grow weary of the trials of our exile, but rather show ourselves ever more faithful and fervent. Amen.

      Terence Cardinal Cooke, Prayers for Today, Staten Island , New York, Alba House Pg.19