Romans 6:5-11

“For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no longer. For he that is dead is justified from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ: knowing that Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him. For in that he died to sin, he died once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God: so do you also reckon, that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

To have nothing left of what you were, Theophila, but to be love incarnate, always doing what is beautiful and loving, this is to be planted in the likeness of Christ’s death to come to the likeness of His resurrection. This blamelessness is the white garment mentioned often in the book of Revelation: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold fire tried, that thou mayest be made rich; and mayest be clothed in white garments” (Apocalypse 3:18), and is a complete death to sin, that you may live for love. The old man, the person that you once were, is dead, and you are free to walk in newness of life, being virtually unrecognizable in who you are; this is typified by the death of the Israelites that came from Egypt, with an entirely new generation going into the promised land: “During the forty years of the journey in the wide wilderness, were uncircumcised: till all they were consumed that had not heard the voice of the Lord, and to whom he had sworn before, that he would not shew them the land flowing with milk and honey” (Josue 5:6). Guilt and the custom of sin are nailed to the cross, that you may be free to love God and others: “Every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7). Because all sin emerges from a broken heart, concupiscence taking the form it does because of the places in your soul that were hurt, encountering the love of God frees you from the body of sin, which means the totality of evil deeds: “And there went out a man baseborn from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, of Geth, whose height was six cubits and a span” (1 Kings 17:4), that putting all that is contrary to love to death, you may be fully alive: “I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). To serve sin: “Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin” (John 8:34) is death: “For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23), but a life lived on love is to truly be alive. To be justified from sin, therefore, is a tremendous relief: “You are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11); baptism and confession remit your sins, and you need not worry about your fate after death, for if you love, neither hell nor purgatory await you, for you are justified in Christ: “And whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:30), thus, live a life of glory as much as you can on earth, that your translation to heaven may be seamless: “Having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, a thing by far the better” (Philippians 1:23). In dying with Christ, you live with Christ, and He died once and dies no more, indicating that you have the grace to never return to sin: “The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: may the Lord keep thy soul” (Psalm 120:7). Christ is victorious, free from death and what leads to death: “I am living for ever and ever, and have the keys of death and of hell” (Apocalypse 1:18), and just as He is free from hunger, thirst, and sickness, you too are free from spiritual hunger for wisdom, thirst for love, and sickness of sin, because the fount of wisdom and love is open to you: “If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink” (John 7:37), that in being satisfied in your mind and heart, you may not pine after these things on earth, instead, after drinking from the fountain, you may give love and wisdom to those who are in need: “The fountain of gardens: the well of living waters, which run with a strong stream from Libanus” (Canticle 4:15). Therefore, just as Christ died once, so you died to sin, to live a life that does not decline after vanities: “Decline not to the right hand, nor to the left: turn away thy foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:27), but conform your life to the life of Christ, which is one in which every action you do is love: “Let all your things be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14), honoring God in your thoughts, words, and actions: “All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Colossians 3:17), which can only be done by letting the divine life flow into you by frequently attending Mass and receiving Him into your body and soul: “Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life” (John 6:54-55).

Romans 5:20-6:4

“Now the law entered in, that sin might abound. And where sin abounded, grace did more abound. That as sin hath reigned to death; so also grace might reign by justice unto life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say, then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. For we that are dead to sin, how shall we live any longer therein? Know you not that all we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death? For we are buried together with him by baptism into death; that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.”

The law, then, was given to point out what sin is, to show what is contrary to true love. St. Paul says that it was given “that sin might abound,” which would make it seem to be a bad thing, but “We know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully” (1 Timothy 1:8), and “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal” (Romans 7:14). It can be said that the “that” he uses does not indicate cause; it does not show that the purpose of the law was to increase sin, as it forbade sin: “Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that the dread of him might be in you, and you should not sin” (Exodus 20:20). Rather, in knowing what is forbidden and not being given the love and grace to avoid it, the desire to do what is sinful burned all the hotter in the hearts of those that had the law: “Stolen waters are sweeter, and hidden bread is more pleasant” (Proverbs 9:17). While there were some that had an authentic appreciation for human goodness: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean no more upon him that striketh them: but they shall lean upon the Lord the Holy One of Israel, in truth” (Isaias 10:20). However, in those that were inflamed with hate or bad loves, the law was a dam against which the waters of desire pushed too strongly, eventually breaking through in a torrent of sin: “And she hath despised my judgments, so as to be more wicked than the Gentiles; and my commandments, more than the countries that are round about her: for they have cast off my judgments, and have not walked in my commandments” (Ezechiel 5:6). It shows that, while it is human nature to love and love well, without grace, the instruction to do so is only discarded in favor of what is contrary to pure, beautiful love: “My hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers were full of the choicest myrrh” (Canticle 5:5). “That sin might abound” may also refer to the weight of guilt, for in seeing what perfect love looks like, and realizing how one cannot attain it, there is increased guilt in sinning against the commandments of God, which were ordained to make people love one another: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’” (Galatians 5:14). Thus, what should have been a beautiful guide for life became a sentence of condemnation: “But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I command thee this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee” (Deuteronomy 28:15). Because “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20), the Israelites knew what was displeasing to God, and without grace, could not lift themselves up to follow His commandments to love. However, for those that live the life of grace, sin becomes a sort of medal, showing from what the love of God can pull a person, for the lives of Saints Mary Magdalene, Paul, or Mary of Egypt are great testimonies to the extraordinary power of love: “Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much” (Luke 7:47). Thus, sin reigned to the death of bodies as well as souls, as there was no divine love to animate them and be the life for which goodness could be their beauty, grace giving this life and justice giving this beauty restores the life that was lost, which is all a free gift from Christ. Now, there could be a misinterpretation that in sinning much, grace may abound more, and so to continue in sin gives Jesus’ death purpose, and potentially an increase of grace. However, sin is not the cause of grace, but the malady that is healed by the merciful love of God: “They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill” (Matthew 9:12). He then explains that in living for Love, one does not continue in sin, because sin closes in the sinner upon themselves, whereas love feeds the heart and turns the lover outward. St. John Chrysostom even calls the virtuous life of love easy, because to love is what man was made for, and so the life of grace fits the human person like a lovely garment better than sin ever could: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold fire tried, that thou mayest be made rich; and mayest be clothed in white garments, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear” (Apocalypse 3:18). When St. Paul says, “know you not,” he speaks as to something so obvious that it cannot be missed, because to sin against Christ should be as outlandish to the lover of God as committing adultery against one’s spouse. You bear Christ crucified in you: “Always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:10), that the greatest expression of love possible may be alive in you, while the members of sin are crucified: “With Christ I am nailed to the cross” (Galatians 2:19). Thus, in baptism you are buried in a sense, with someone new arising: “If then any be in Christ a new creature, the old things are passed away, behold all things are made new” (1 Corinthians 5:17), for what was is buried, and a divine expression of love arises, that one may live to become, like Jesus, love incarnate. Therefore, in being put to death in a spiritual sense, the glory of God raises you up, that you may live a life of love, a life of goodness, which is glorious and beautiful, just as Jesus rose again in glory.

Romans 5:15-19

“But not as the offense, so also the gift. For if by the offence of one, many died; much more the grace of God, and the gift, by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one sin, so also is the gift. For judgment indeed was by one unto condemnation; but grace is of many offences, unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned through one; much more they who receive abundance of grace, and of the gift, and of justice, shall reign in life through one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offence of one, unto all men to condemnation; so also by the justice of one, unto all men to justification of life. For as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners; so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made just.”

St. Paul begins by saying, “Not as the offense, so also the gift,” because the existence of sin is a sort of non-being, such as darkness being merely an absence of light. Sin is an absence of love, whereas the gift of grace is a surplus of it that exceeds all sin: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity” (Psalm 50:3). The remission of sin is not the fulness of God’s gift, but in newness of life comes “Love, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity” (Galatians 5:22-23), living on a righteous love that is true life: “The way of life, to him that observeth correction: but he that forsaketh reproofs goeth astray” (Proverbs 10:17). This love takes many different forms, and God gives abundant gifts to make it shine: “And God is able to make all grace abound in you; that ye always, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8); “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). It is by Jesus alone that gifts come, for the saints point to Him: “Is Christ divided? Was Paul then crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:13), and the Father is reached through Him: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6), thus all things point to Him, and all true gifts, that is, of the soul, proceed from Him: “We will make thee chains of gold, inlaid with silver” (Canticle 1:10). Now, this gift abounds to many, for punishment for one man’s sin is difficult to grasp in light of love, but to be saved on account of the love, grace, and testimony of Jesus shows His compassion: “He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true” (John 3:33). It is also the more attractive, because love shines like a halo and draws the heart: “Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments” (Canticle 1:3), whereas sin is bland and repetitive: “Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say: ‘Behold this is new:’ for it hath already gone before in the ages that were before us” (Ecclesiastes 1:10), and so many are called to love rather than remain in the stink of spiritual death: “Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called” (1 Timothy 6:12). Then, where in one sin was the origin of all sin, original sin and all actual sins committed by those that are reconciled to God are forgiven. The infinite merciful love of God is a complete cleansing, “Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times: according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored, like to the flesh of a little child, and he was made clean” (4 Kings 5:14). To have the purity of a child is both a call and a gift: “Unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3), but this is what it means to be justified, to love as purely, eagerly, and as sincerely as a child. Now, if spiritual death, a lack of love, reigns in the world on account of sin, thus incurring condemnation, the love of God forgives the sins committed, gives the grace to cease the sins, and in time goes back on their effects, as the heart is filled with love and becomes free to love in turn. This is to receive the gift and the justice of Jesus Christ: “Being justified by his grace, we may be heirs, according to hope of life everlasting” (Titus 3:7), and this leads to a reigning in eternal life: “They shall reign for ever and ever” (Apocalypse 22:5), but this also is a reign over one’s own faculties, being able to follow love’s sweet fragrance and not be hindered by what once kept you pinned down: “The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds” (Wisdom 3:7). The gift of this life of love is entirely a gift from God, with no merits being able to account for it: “Not of works, that no man may glory” (Ephesians 2:9), and the Divine Bridegroom, so eager to see His beloved burning with a fiery love and bringing this love and joy to all she encounters, gives liberally in turn: “And he commanded a magnificent feast to be prepared for all the princes, and for his servants, for the marriage and wedding of Esther. And he gave rest to all the provinces, and bestowed gifts according to princely magnificence” (Esther 2:18). Finally, because Adam lost the inheritance given by God to love in an upright manner, as becomes human nature, this fallenness descends to all his children, that in light of death they may seek to live virtuous lives, which is a life in obedience of the dictates of the Lord: “Thou shalt hear his voice, and do the commandments and justices which I command thee” (Deuteronomy 27:10). While this justice is excellent, it lacks the communion of love enjoyed by Adam, whereas to love Jesus and obey His precepts: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not heavy” (1 John 5:3) is a gift of grace, “In this is love: not as though we had loved God, but because he hath first loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10), and this love brings the lover of God into a place of sublime justice, animated by love. Therefore, by the obedience of Christ and the love with which He reached out to you, you may then be lifted by Him to a place of righteousness, animated by love.

Romans 5:12-14

“Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned. For until the law sin was in the world, but sin was not imputed, when the law was not. But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them also who have not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of him who was to come.”

Original justice, the original state of man, was a gracious state of a loving relationship with God, each other, and nature “And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good” (Genesis 1:31), that is, in harmony, concord, and proper ordering. This was entirely a gift from God, who made man out of love and for love, and in his original innocence, this love was magnificently intact: “The Lord hath wrought great glory through his magnificence from the beginning” (Ecclesiasticus 44:2); “Above every soul Adam in the beginning” (Ecclesiasticus 49:19). Adam and Eve, through their sin, lost this gracious reward, and their descendants were born outside of the state of grace, lacking this harmony with God: “I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10), each other: “And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him” (Genesis 4:8), and nature: “Cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life” (Genesis 3:17); “The wicked that denied to know thee, were scourged by the strength of thy arm, being persecuted by strange waters, and hail, and rain, and consumed by fire… For at one time, the fire was mitigated, that the beasts which were sent against the wicked might not be burned” (Wisdom 16:16-18). This is state worthy of pity, just as one born with physical defects draws great pity, and this weighed down the beauty of human nature with a great inclination to evil: “And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times” (Gensis 6:5). While repentance was possible: “She brought him out of his sin, and gave him power to govern all things” (Wisdom 10:2), the aforementioned harmony and loving relationship was still absent from the hearts of men, and was only restored by the grace Jesus: “Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these?” (John 21:15); “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10). This life lived outside of love is death: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); “And he cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24), whereas the love that Jesus brings is life: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). When St. Paul then says that death passed to all, it is because man was not made for a fallen world: “And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed” (Genesis 2:8), but for an eternity of a life of love: “And night shall be no more: and they shall not need the light of the lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall enlighten them, and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Apocalypse 22:5). Thus, death is a grace when one dies in the state of grace, as through it one enters into the eternal sanctuary of God’s love: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection” (Apocalypse 20:6). Now, when St. Paul moves into saying that “until the law sin was in the world,” this is not to say that the law took away sin, but that it existed even before the law highlighted what was sinful: “But I do not know sin, but by the law” (Romans 7:7), for there is a natural law: “And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them in like manner” (Luke 6:31), that man cannot help but fall short of fulfilling on account of their fallen, broken nature: “For a just man shall fall seven times and shall rise again” (Proverbs 24:16); “For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not” (Ecclesiastes 7:21). Most men, before the law was instituted, did not realize that God had any care for their affairs: “And they have said: ‘The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob understand” (Psalm 93:7); “The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things” (Job 22:14), with the natural law being known and enforced primarily through others; St. Thomas Aquinas gives as an example the patriarch Joseph being accused of adultery: “His master hearing these things, and giving too much credit to his wife’s words was very angry. And cast Joseph into the prison, where the king’s prisoners were kept, and he was there shut up” (Genesis 39:19-20). It was not until it was revealed that “The Lord his name is Jealous, he is a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5) that sins against God would weigh so heavily on the conscience and there would be a fear of offending God. Spiritual death still reigned in the wicked, and separation from God was in all men: “For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 50:7). This is what is meant when it is said that even those that had not sinned the sin of Adam, that is, of making a conscious decision to sin against the law and violate God’s commandment: “Who shall rest in thy holy hill? He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice” (Psalm 14:1-2), even these did not have the loving relationship with God that Jesus brought: “For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17); “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say: ‘Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 4:17), thus death reigned in them, for even those that were just under the law did not receive the gift of life: “And this is the testimony, that God hath given to us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son, hath life. He that hath not the Son, hath not life” (1 John 5:11-12). Now, if it is a sin against natural law to act against love of neighbor, a violation of the law to act against the love of God, how much more so when it is a sin not against a distant all-powerful being, but a God that so tenderly loves you? “Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine” (Isaias 43:1). Thus, under Moses it was shown that God does have an eye to human affairs: “The Lord beholdeth the ways of man, and considereth all his steps” (Proverbs 5:21), but through Jesus this was seen to be the loving eyes of a Father upon His children: “Keep me, as the apple of thy eye” (Psalm 16:8); “Thou becamest honourable in my eyes, thou art glorious: I have loved thee” (Isaias 43:4). Finally, where by Adam all receive the gift of life, the gift of divine love is received through Jesus Christ: “If then any be in Christ a new creature, the old things are passed away, behold all things are made new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Romans 5:6-11

“For why did Christ, when as yet we were weak, according to the time, die for the ungodly? For scarce for a just man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man some one would dare to die. But God commendeth his charity towards us; because when as yet we were sinners, according to the time, Christ died for us; much more therefore, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. And not only so; but also we glory in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Jesus sees the inability of man to raise himself to proper love, like a sickness that weighs down the health of someone that should be joyful and doing what they were made to do: “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad” (Isaias 1:5). Just as a leg infected with rot cannot be used to support the weight of a person, so too a soul clouded with sin cannot lift itself to genuine affection with God, thus the Apostle instructs: “Laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us” (Hebrews 12:1), which is to fight for love: “All their kings, and their lands he took and wasted at one onset: for the Lord the Goo of Israel fought for him” (Josue 10:42). Therefore, the Divine Physician, in His great mercy, descended to apply the healing balm of His merciful love: “They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill” (Matthew 9:12), and this may either be by a medicine to restore the languishing, sick soul: “Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less” (Luke 7:47), or preventative medicine, to keep one who was baptized as a child in spiritual wellness throughout their lives, which itself deserves great thanksgiving and affection: “And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it, and this also was a point of wisdom, to know whose gift it was: I went to the Lord and besought him” (Wisdom 8:21). Both of these paths of life are due to the infinite love of Jesus, that one may be upheld in innocence: “That you may be blameless, and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15), another may have his sins turned to glory, just as St. Mary Magdalene: “But he rising early the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he had cast seven devils” (Mark 16:9), or St. Paul: “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:9-10). Now, Love Incarnate, the second person of the Trinity, one of the three members of the Supreme Godhead, died, and this for the unjust: “Because Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust: that he might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). It shows the great folly of God’s love, that extending beyond natural justice, where one would rarely go to death that another that is just may live out of an extreme zeal for virtue or common good, God reaches beyond this to go to death for those whom he loves, who are all unjust, for “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Divine folly! Divine madness! It is a love that surpasses all understanding, that cannot be grasped with the mind, but can only be known by the heart. God then commends His charity, or expresses the greatness of His merciful love, by bearing the consequences of your sins and the sins of all mankind, that those who sinned may not have to: “But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed” (Isaias 53:5), like a mother leaping into danger to save her child: “Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee” (Isaias 49:15). If God would go to such extreme lengths as to become man and die that you may be His: “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting” (John 3:16), St. Paul here notes that He will lavish such abundant grace upon you that you remain so: “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee” (Psalm 90:7); “He hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psalm 90:11), for as you seek Him: “Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near” (Isaias 55:6), He will draw you, and keep you very safe that you may be entirely His and He entirely yours: “I to my beloved, and my beloved to me, who feedeth among the lilies” (Canticle 6:2). Now, this was done while humanity as a whole and each individual was, in a sense, an enemy of God, for to be outside the state of grace is to be oriented entirely towards the earth: “For our soul is humbled down to the dust: our belly cleaveth to the earth” (Psalm 43:25), under the heavy yoke of the enemy: “But then indeed, not knowing God, you served them, who, by nature, are not gods” (Galatians 4:8). It is a disposition on the part of the person, for God “lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things which thou hast made: for thou didst not appoint, or make any thing hating it” (Wisdom 11:25), and while turn from the one deep in sin: “And I will set my face against that man, and will make him an example, and a proverb, and will cut him off from the midst of my people: and you shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezechiel 14:8), it is that they may be pricked in conscience and turn to His merciful love: “Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning, and rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil” (Joel 2:12-13). Therefore, Christ laid down His life for you, that you may live deeply immersed in His love, aware of it at all times and in all things, never leaving His presence of love: “Am I, think ye, a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Shall a man be hid in secret places, and I not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?” (Jeremias 23:23-24). This present union, being able to drink from the stream of God’s love even in this life: “And there thou shalt drink of the torrent” (3 Kings 17:4), thus brings you to glory in God, not having to wait for heaven to rejoice perpetually in God, but letting your heart sing in love now: “My soul shall rejoice in the Lord; and shall be delighted in his salvation” (Psalm 34:9), feasting on love, joy, and beauty: “A cheerful and good heart is always feasting: for his banquets are prepared with diligence” (Ecclesiasticus 30:27).

Romans 5:1-5

“Being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access through faith into this grace, wherein we stand, and glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God. And not only so; but we glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience trial; and trial hope; and hope confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us.”

“Being justified therefore by faith” carries with it a lofty connotation, because God does not want you to worry about your salvation, wringing your hands over Hell or trying to cut down on your time in purgatory, but beginning your eternal life here in this life, living a life that is closer to that of the angels rather than beasts: “O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever” (Daniel 3:58); “And all the angels stood round about the throne, and the ancients, and the four living creatures; and they fell down before the throne upon their faces, and adored God, saying: ‘Amen. Benediction, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honour, and power, and strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen” (Apocalypse 7:11-12). It is in living your life as a child of the Father: “Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God” (1 John 3:2), a spouse of Christ: “Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse” (Canticle 4:9), and a temple of the Holy Spirit: “Your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). You cannot enjoy this marvelous love, this unfathomably beautiful life, if you concern yourself with an unpleasant afterlife, for what marriage can thrive when one member is constantly worrying about it failing? Therefore, embrace your justification, and be at peace with God: “Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits” (Job 22:21), for He desires firstly that you know His infinite, perfect, merciful love, and then by this to obey His commandments, as His narrow path is a golden road, one of unceasing love and beauty: “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths” (Psalm 118:105); “And the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass” (Apocalypse 21:21). Love sanctifies your soul, and to love your whole life is to live a heavenly life, and thereby you slip into heaven without issue: “But above all these things have love, which is the bond of perfection” (Colossians 3:14), for heaven is made for lovers: “He that abideth in love, abideth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). This is done through an intimate, loving relationship with Jesus, “For he is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14), “If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Ah, but He even consoles the one tempted to despair: “How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou!” (Canticle 4:1); “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come” (Canticle 2:13), showing that He is armed with the perfect words of love for any who need it: “For what things soever were written, were written for our learning: that through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). Your heavenly Spouse has opened the heavens for you: “And lo, the heavens were opened to him” (Matthew 3:16) that you may receive an abundance of spiritual benefits, the countless gifts of love: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hat blessed us with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Therefore, stand firm and tall, your way of life upright and your mind reaching into the heavens: “Thy stature is like to a palm tree,” constantly yielding the fruits of love: “and thy breasts to clusters of grapes” (Canticle 7:7). Therefore, the Psalmist says: “We are risen, and are set upright” (Psalm 19:9), as you are risen to a new life of love with God and men, and are called to walk confidently and joyously in this: “For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me” (Psalm 22:4). You can then rejoice in the glory of the sons of God, knowing that you are His precious child: “But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name” (John 1:12); “Behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints” (Wisdom 5:5), for it is a great glory and a marvelous life to love as God loves, to make one’s every action one of love: “Every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7). Now, the one that hopes strongly will endure difficulties and bitterness for the object of desire, which is Christ: “I press towards the mark, to the prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14), and just as athletes eat certain foods and undergo great strain for the sake of their prize, so too does the one that loves God eat bitter herbs and drink vinegar in life for the sake of the Beloved: “And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one” (1 Corinthians 9:25); “Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:21). Tribulations, then exercise you in calm patience, that you may be patient with the failures, different temperaments, and sins of others: “Now we that are stronger, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (Romans 15:1). Patience will yield trial, as the enemy brings forward his strategies to test your patience and wear you down: “Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation” (Ecclesiasticus 2:1); “A patient man shall bear for a time, and afterwards joy shall be restored to him” (Ecclesiasticus 1:29). However, in bearing these trials, and enduring the loss of bodily goods for the sake of love and the eternal rewards of love, great hope of the eternal love of heaven comes about, that love has endured such trials: “[Wisdom] will bring upon him fear and dread and trial: and she will scourge him with the affliction of her discipline, till she try him by her laws, and trust his soul. Then she will strengthen him, and make a straight way to him, and give him joy, and will disclose her secrets to him” (Ecclesiasticus 4:19-20); “God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself” (Wisdom 3:5). This hope does not confound, because love does not deceive, and the rewards of love are the fulfillment of all desire: “Ye that fear the Lord, love him, and your hearts shall be enlightened. My children behold the generations of men: and know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded” (Ecclesiasticus 2:10-11). This love is poured into your heart, that you may love God and others: “Let us therefore love God, because God first hath loved us. If an man say, ‘I love God,’ and hateth his brother; he is a liar” (1 John 4:20), for the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love: “But the fruit of the Spirit is, love” (Galatians 5:22). The fact that you love Him, then, is proof of His love for you: “In this is love: not as though we had loved God, but because he hath first loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10), and this love reaches out past yourself: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another” (John 13:35), manifesting itself by acts of love of God and neighbor: “Thy two breasts like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies” (Canticle 4:5), and a beautiful life: “If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him” (John 14:23). By these things, you can have a great confidence of the Trinity’s presence in your heart, even when you can in no way perceive it.

Romans 4:20-25

“In the promise also of God he staggered not by distrust; but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God: most fully knowing, that whatsoever he has promised, he is able also to perform. And therefore it was reputed to him unto justice. Now it is not written only for him, that it was reputed to him unto justice, but also for us, to whom it shall be reputed, if we believe in him, that raised up Jesus Christ, our Lord, from the dead, who was delivered up for our sins, and rose again for our justification.”

God’s promise to Abraham had no natural foundation, but was built entirely on a promise. There was no sign, no proof, but His word alone: “The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen: but the word of our Lord endureth for ever” (Isaias 40:8). God promised both a great number of children: “’Look up to heaven and number the stars, if thou canst.’ And he said to him: ‘So shall thy seed be’” (Genesis 15:5) and a great dignity among them: “Thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:17-18). The second is of greater note, because God says magnificent things to you: “How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou!” (Canticle 4:1); “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jeremias 31:3); “Cry to me and I will hear thee: and I will shew thee great things, and sure things which thou knowest not” (Jeremias 33:3), which you may not see, but you can receive them with faith, hearing them with your heart rather than your senses and believing in His magnificent promises, not wavering in belief: “He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind” (James 1:6). When a temptation arises that would make you doubt God’s love and goodness, your worth in His eyes, or the equal love He has for your neighbor, quench it with words of love: “If thou blow the spark, it shall burn as a fire: and if thou spit upon it, it shall be quenched: both come out of the mouth” (Ecclesiasticus 28:14); “In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one” (Ephesians 6:16). This will strengthen you in faith, just as Abraham was, which gives glory to God: “I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify thy name forever” (Psalm 85:12). The words of God are promises to you, that you may have faith in His words, as He works to make you His representative of love on earth: “Being confident of this very thing, that he, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6); “Do not therefore lose your confidence, which hath a great reward” (Hebrews 10:35). To waver in faith is to doubt either the love or the power of Jesus, which is a wound to the Sacred Heart: “O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14:31), but to believe in both of these at all times is true justice: “We also believe in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ” (Galatians 2:16). Therefore, Abraham’s trust becomes an example of true justice, which is to be led by the hand by the words of God, for to believe in God does not mean only to believe that He exists: “Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble” (James 2:19), but to believe in His love: “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1). Jesus went to death to save you from sin, and rose again that you may know that His love for you overcomes death: “Love is strong as death” (Canticle 8:6). Therefore, there is the magnificent starting point of justification, that you may not despair of His love for you: “For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9), with the journey from there being a growth in the art of love: “Behold as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel” (Jeremias 18:6); “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). This is to live a resurrected life, you that have died to sin, now justified, may walk the narrow way of constant love: “For we are buried together with him by baptism into death; that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Romans 4:16-19

“Therefore is it of faith, that according to grace the promise might be firm to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (As it is written: ‘I have made thee a father of many nations,’) before God, whom he believed, who quickeneth the dead; and calleth those things that are not, as those that are. Who against hope believed in hope; that he might be made the father of many nations, according to that which was said to him: ‘So shall thy seed be.’ And he was not weak in faith; netiher did he consider his own body now dead, whereas he was almost an hundred years old, nor the dead womb of Sara.”

Because the actions of man are fallible, and all the justices therein have some semblance of stain upon them: “I am become as a beast before thee: and I am always with thee” (Psalm 72:23); “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), justice must be built upon solid rock, which is Christ: “For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 3:11), that the covenant of love may be built on the relationship extended by the Father through Jesus, rather than upon any merits or actions of the human person. This gift of grace, the reaching out of the hand of God to Abraham, enacted both a physical fatherhood of Abraham: “We are the seed of Abraham” (John 8:33) which is that of the law, as well as spiritual children: “Know ye therefore, that they who are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). Because Abraham received the open embrace of God and His goodness, he became the example of faith for all that believe, not just those of bodily descent that keep the law: “And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart: and thou shalt tell them to thy children” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). His trust in God yields a mighty spiritual fatherhood, making him the father of all who believe, and so does a heart that trusts in God’s goodness at all times yield the fruit of love, which are the souls of others: “In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples” (John 15:8); “Behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb” (Psalm 126:3), with the greatness of one’s love, expressed by faith and trust, bringing about a greater harvest: “The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37), thus Abraham, by his great trust, became a father of many nations: “Abraham was the great father of a multitude of nations, and there was not found the like to him in glory, who kept the law of the most High, and was in covenant with him” (Ecclesiasticus 44:20). He believed with certainty the God that sees all things, trusting in the wisdom of a knowing, loving parent rather than the limited perspective of a man. In this is a beautiful lesson, Theophila, because the parents have much greater insight into what the children need than the children do themselves and carry with them an abundance of wisdom. Now, if this is true of earthly parents with earthly wisdom, how much more so the heavenly Father who is the source of all wisdom? “All wisdom is from the Lord God, and hath been always with him, and is before all time” (Ecclesiasticus 1:1). This same God is also sublime in might, able to “quicken the dead,” which both pertains to the resurrections seen in Scripture: “He said: ‘Young man, I say to thee, arise.’ And that was dead, sat up, and begun to speak” (Luke 7:14-15) as well as to those dead in sin: “And you, when you were dead in your offences, and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) and calls those who are not those who are. This pertains firstly to the Gentiles, who were not God’s children, “Israel is my son, my firstborn” (Exodus 4:22), but the gift of His love was extended to them: “Thou, being a wild olive, art ingrafted in them, and art made partaker of the root, and of the fatness of the olive tree” (Romans 11:17). This pertains to you and your love, Theophila, because you who once did not know the love of God, have been given it abundantly, you were not a lover and then became one, “And passing by thee, I saw that thou wast trodden under foot in thy own blood” (Ezechiel 16:6), you were not a child and were brought in: “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). Now, Abraham’s act of faith was against all the circumstances around him, as he was great in age: “Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth?” (Genesis 17:17). Against hope he believed in hope, because it was told him, and so too, when divine light illumines your imperfections and seeming unloveableness is it important to always believe in love, to walk in faith that you are perfectly, beautifully loved, no matter your failures and faults. Despite what nature and humanity cried out, Abraham instead walked by the divine promises, so too are the words of Scripture and the promises thereof enough, even when no devotion or feeling can be drawn up: “Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine… Thou becamest honourable in my eyes, thou art glorious: I have loved thee, and I will give men for thee, and people for thy life” (Isaias 43:1, 4); “As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love” (John 15:9). Abraham was promised beautiful, sparkling children like the stars: “I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven” (Genesis 22:17), because those who love shine like stars in the darkness of a world that so needs love: “They that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity” (Daniel 12:3). Abraham by resolute, strong faith did not waver in his trust of God: “Do manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all ye that hope in the Lord” (Psalm 30:25), showing the disposition when temptations against God’s love and goodness arise: “Why are you fearful? Have you not faith yet?” (Mark 4:40). Therefore, when devotion is dry, arid, and seemingly dead and barren, hold fast to the faith that you love and are loved, and this will be enough.

Romans 4:11-15

“And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the justice of the faith, which he had, being uncircumcised; that he might be the father of all them that believe, being uncircumcised, that unto them also it may be reputed to justice: and he might be the father of circumcision; not to them only, that are of the circumcision, but to them also that follow the steps of the faithful, that is in the uncircumcision of our father Abraham. For not through the law was the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, that he should be heir of the world; but through the justice of faith. For if they who are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, the promise is made of no effect. For the law worketh wrath. For where there is no law, neither is there transgression.”

Like a seal placed on a letter wraps up what is truly important, the seal itself being a symbol of the one who wrote it: “Thou wast the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty” (Ezechiel 28:12), so too is the sign of circumcision an expression of the covenant between God and Abraham that was already instituted: “And God said to him: ‘I Am, and my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations” (Genesis 17:4). It was a removal of superfluous skin from the organ by which his line would be multiplied, and likewise to the Christian, “But he is a Jew, that is one inwardly; and the circumcision is that of the heart” (Romans 2:29), is the removal of all that is superfluous that the heart may dwell in love alone: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, to refrain yourselves from carnal desires which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11); “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15), that the fruits of the heart may be plentiful: “I am the vine; you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Now, this justification that came before circumcision, but sealed with circumcision, made Abraham the father of all believers, circumcised and uncircumcised, because he tread the path of faith for those that would follow him in the way of trust and faith: “If you be the children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39). It is by imitation of Abraham, always holding fast to the love and goodness of God, that one is justified, not by external signs: “And I testify again to every man circumcising himself, that he is a debtor to do the whole law” (Galatians 5:3), nor by rigid following of the commandments: “in the spirit, not in the letter” (Romans 2:29). No, Theophila, it is knowing and trusting in the infinite love of God that He desires from you: “Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it” (Luke 11:28), for it is better to love your Jesus than any mountain of great works without this same love: “And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). It is the manner of children to have someone they desire to look up to and imitate, and this is the nature of the veneration of saints, thus does it say in the Song of Songs: “If thou know not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth, and follow after the steps of the flocks, and feed thy kids beside the tents of the shepherds” (Canticle 1:7), that is, if you don’t know how to express love in your own way, look to the example of the saints gone by and the lovers of God around you, and look to their love and think on how to love in turn. Abraham is the preeminent example of faith, which is adherence to the goodness and truths of God by love even when circumstances make these things seem otherwise: “Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not. For by this the ancients obtained a testimony” (Hebrews 11:1-2). By trusting in this goodness, which is the expression of God’s mighty love, Abraham was justified by faith. Now, Abraham’s seed is in reference specifically to Christ: “To Abraham were the promises made and to his seed. He saith not, ‘And to his seeds,’ as of many: but as of one, ‘And to thy seed,’ which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16), showing that even the faith of Abraham points ahead to Christ. The faith of Christ, who is heir of the world: “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18); “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sitteth on the right hand of the majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3), is faith in God as His Abba: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee” (Mark 14:36); “I also have kept my Father’s commandments, and do abide in his love” (John 15:10). It is Jesus who is heir of the world. This then extends to you, “for whom he foreknew, he also predestinated to be made conformable to the image of his son; that he might be the firstborn amongst many brethren” (Romans 8:29), for as spouses hold all things in common, so too does the inheritance extend to you as a Spouse of God; all things therefore are yours, to lead your mind to God: “For the world fighteth for the just” (Wisdom 16:17). Moving forward, family members don’t love each other because of their merits, but simply because they are each other’s, and so too does God love you not because of your excellence, but because you are His; if it was because of your excellence, it is no longer love. When you trust in God’s merciful love, letting Him love you, this is faith, when you build yourself into something gloriously meritorious, though this leads to a beautiful, upright life, it is not the fullness of faith, which is animated by love: “If I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). The law, then, brings wrath, because it shows what is the good and the evil, without conferring grace, and therefore simply highlights what is wrong with a person’s behavior without applying the medicine to cure it: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh; God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh and of sin, hath condemned sin in the flesh; that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit” (Romans 8:4). Finally, the natural law written in the conscience and the explicit commandments of God in the Old Covenant give liability for transgression, which is not a blessing, but a curse: “Cursed be he that abideth not in the words of this law, and fulfilleth them not in work: and all the people shall say: ‘Amen’” (Deuteronomy 27:26), but the love that animates faith is a loving knowledge of God, with this love not desiring to sin against Him, for this would be akin to committing adultery against a spouse: “Lift up thy eyes on high: and see where thou hast not prostituted thyself” (Jeremias 3:2), or acting with malice against the love of a parent: “For the Father himself loveth you” (John 16:27). Thus, the law works wrath, but faith brings joy and love to the soul: “O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of joy” (Psalm 46:2).

Romans 4:6-10

“As David also termeth the blessedness of a man, to whom God reputeth justice without works: ‘Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin.’ This blessedness then, doth it remain in the circumcision only, or in the uncircumcision also? For we say that unto Abraham faith was reputed to justice. How then was it reputed? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.”

The blessed Apostle then pulls in another Old Testament source for the sake of the Jewish Christians in Rome, a Psalm of David, that it is in the forgiveness of sin, a restoring of friendship, rather than in greatness of virtue, works of the law, or personal merit, that blessedness consists. This reference to Psalm 31 indicates it, because by saying “whose iniquities are forgiven” there is termed the forgiveness of venial sin, “sins are covered” the forgiveness of mortal sin, “to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin” the healing of original sin. All three are swallowed up like sticks cast into the endless inferno of God’s merciful love: “And behold a fire, coming forth from the Lord, devoured the holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar: which when the multitude saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces” (Leviticus 9:24). Because it is man alone who failed in the mutual relationship with God, it is God alone who restores this relationship, and in forgiving your sin with a word, He opens the door for a relationship of love to be established: “If we walk in the light, as he also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Blessed are you then, Theophila, who have cast your sins into this furnace, forgetting them: “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremias 31:34), and instead walking in joy and love with your God: “I will shew thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee: Verily, to do judgement, and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with thy God” (Micheas 6:8). Some thought this blessedness to be only open to the circumcised, which St. Paul refutes, as this walk prefigures even Abraham: “And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And he walked with God” (Genesis 5:23-24), but is seen in a particular way with the father of the Jewish people. Abraham received his justification by faith, and walked with God before his circumcision, for Abraham heeds the voice of God and obeys him in Genesis 12: “And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father’s house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee… So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him” (Genesis 12:1, 4), was deemed just in Genesis 15: “Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice” (Genesis 15:6), but only received circumcision in Genesis 17: “This is my covenant which you shall observe, between me and you, and thy seed after thee: All the male kind of you shall be circumcised” (Genesis 17:10). Therefore, the love of God is seen not to be confined to the act of circumcision, but open as a treasure for all who hear his word and turn to Him: “The Lord will open his excellent treasure, the heaven, that it may give rain in due season: and he will bless all the works of thy hands” (Deuteronomy 28:12); “The same is Lord over all, rich unto all that call upon him” (Romans 10:12).

Romans 4:1-5

“What shall we say then that Abraham hath found, who is our father according to the flesh. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.’ Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt. But to him that worketh not, yet believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reputed to justice, according to the purpose of the grace of God.”

St. Paul then moves to the topic of Abraham, the father of Jewish and Christian faith, for his covenantal relationship with God, indicative of love, pointed in a particular way to his offspring being the people of God: “That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18). This covenant, in which Abraham believed: “Believe God, and he will recover thee: and direct thy way, and trust in him” (Ecclesiasticus 2:6) preceded the institution of circumcision: “And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may be for a sign of the covenant between me and you” (Genesis 17:11). Rather, it was Abraham’s trust of God that gave him glory, for while it is a grace to observe the commandments, doing so with a heart that trusts in the infinite reaches of God’s merciful love is greater: “Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart” (Proverbs 3:5). Consider, Theophila, that in marriage, simply doing what the spouse asks the other to do is one thing, but to spend time resting together in love, trusting in the love one has for the other, being confident in this love rather than worrying if they are pleasing to the other, this is the faith of love. It is God that has made a covenant with His people, and by your inclusion in this, yourself: “And I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth: and I will establish with thee an everlasting covenant” (Ezechiel 16:60). It is not in the works done by Abraham but his familiarity with God, just as a spouse does not boast of the things done for the beloved, but rejoices in the love they have found: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). This love becomes planted in the heart: “I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremias 31:33). Therefore, if Abraham was justified by his own works, he could boast, but before the love of God there would be nothing, for the love of God is not something that has to be earned, but is freely given: “The love of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us” (Romans 5:5). Likewise, it is not in consenting to facts but in trusting in love at all times that one has this faith: “But without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and is a rewarder to them that seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore, believe in the merciful love of God, believe in His love at all times, for this is the faith that justifies, not your abstinence or good deeds, but in your childlike trust in the goodness of the Father, who always cares for you: “Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Even when everything seems averse to this: “Deep calleth on deep, at the noise of thy flood-gates. All thy heights and thy billows have passed over me” (Psalm 41:8), have faith, always believe in love: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jeremias 31:3). Abraham believed in the loving voice of God when He promised children to a couple that was far beyond the age of childbearing: “Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth?” (Genesis 17:17). Likewise, if you believe that the love of the Father is at work in you at all times, even in the darkest of nights: “My Father worketh until now; and I work” (John 5:17) that He loves you even when your misery and unlovability seems most manifest: “Love never falleth away” (1 Corinthians 13:8). The work that then springs from love is not what justifies, but is rather an expression of the love that was received: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and unmoveable; always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). The ability to love well and avidly is a gift of grace: “Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7), and for the one that is too feeble to work, such as a child, they too are justified, being living expressions of the simplicity of love: “Suffer children to come to me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16). Begin as a beloved child: “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22), and make the rest of your life tell a marvelous love story, not focused on the work itself but on how it shows how in love you are: “I say to you, that if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40) with the one that has first loved you: “Let us therefore love God, because God first hath loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Romans 3:27-31

“Where is then thy boasting? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we account a man to be justified by faith, without the works of the law. Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. For it is one God, that justifieth circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. Do we, then, destroy the law through faith? God forbid: but we establish the law.”

Because there is none just by their own merits, “There is not any man just” (Romans 3:10), there is no place to boast. Any natural goodness or talent without the love of God is misused, and even these natural goods are gifts: “Or what hast thou that thou hast not received?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). Because all without love is empty, it is only in love that there can be boasting, and love comes from God alone: “Dearly beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7). Therefore, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). It is not, then, by works of the law, done without love, but the law of faith. It is not in the arm alone, but in the heart that the law of faith is manifest: “Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm” (Song 8:6). Now, faith concerns belief in the words of God, which is seen in the Old Testament: “Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice” (Genesis 15:6), but it was not with a full knowledge of God, which was revealed in Jesus: “God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, in these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Only in the New Testament was it revealed that “God is love” (1 John 4:16) and that the commandment of God is simple: “A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you love one another” (John 13:34). There is a distinction between believing a great authority: “Hear, O my people, and I will testify to thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken to me” (Psalm 80:9) and believing a loving Father: “Love… believeth all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4, 7). While both are meritorious and expressions of faith, perfect faith is a manifestation of love: “He that feareth, is not yet perfected in love” (1 John 4:18); “If I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). This faith, then, is a gift of God, for when it is an expression of love, it must come from the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit breatheth where he will; and thou hearest his voice” (John 3:8). St. Paul then declares God to be the God of both Jews and Gentiles, for His merciful love extends to all and cannot be put into any box. God throughout the Old Covenant gladly welcomed those who would come to Him: “If any stranger be willing to dwell among you, and to keep the Phase of the Lord, all his males shall first be circumcised, and then shall he celebrate it according to the manner: and he shall be as he that is born in the land” (Exodus 12:48); “Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16), and had dominion over all the earth: “For the kingdom is the Lord’s; and he shall have dominion over the nations” (Psalm 21:29). The full unveiling of God in Christ Jesus gave fulfillment to these mysteries: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Galations 6:15); “But he is a Jew, that is one inwardly; and the circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit” (Romans 2:29). Because all, Jews and Gentiles, are made for love, Jesus came to fulfill this in all for those who have faith in Him: “Whom having not seen, you love” (1 Peter 1:8), bringing those of the circumcision and uncircumsion into the mystery of His love: “But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name” (John 1:12). Faith and love then establish law, seeing to what the old law pointed and bringing it to perfection: “Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17); “He that loveth his neighbour, hath fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8). With the ceremonial precepts pointing to the perfect worship through Jesus: “For if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of an heifer being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who by the Holy Ghost offered himself unspotted unto God, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God?” (Hewbrews 9:13-14) and the moral precepts being animated through love: “It is the spirit that quickeneth” (John 6:63), the law of love, “This is… the new testament in my blood” (Luke 22:20) is established.

Romans 3:24-26

“Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption, that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath proposed to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to the shewing of his justice, for the remission of former sins, through the forbearance of God, for the shewing of his justice in this time; that he himself may be just, and the justifier of him, who is of the faith of Jesus Christ.”

Because all have sinned and acted outside of the love of God, mankind needs the gift of justification, something he is unable to attain through his own capabilities, but must be extended by God by grace. It is comparable to a king that offers a gift to someone of a lower station, which the person then acts accordingly by acting with due respect and friendship. Even more so is it with the cause of sin; for it is not just the lower station of man to an infinitely good God, but man that has acted against this same God: “And the lord of that servant being moved with pity, let him go and forgave him the debt” (Matthew 18:27). It is also comparable to the gift of the queenship of Queen Esther, who was a lowly maiden but lovely in the king’s sight: “She had favour and kindness before him above all the women, and he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vasthi” (Esther 2:17). There is great beauty in human nature, something magnificent in the eyes of God beyond all His other creatures, and he longs to adorn His people with grace: “Myrrh and stacte and cassia perfume thy garments, from the ivory houses: out of which the daughters of kings have delighted thee in thy glory” (Psalm 44:8). Though sin once marred your nature, it is set aside for the garments of righteousness, that divine love may shine through your redeemed humanity: “Arise, arise, put on thy strength, O Sion, put on the garments of thy glory, O Jerusalem, the city of the Holy One” (Isaias 52:1). It is a free gift, not from anything you yourself have done or any good qualities on your part, but solely because God loves you: “But by the grace of God, I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10). This is done by the ransom paid by Christ Jesus for your expiation from sin and error: “Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee” (Isaias 60:1), that you may be free to love: “But God, (who is rich in mercy,) for his exceeding love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-5); “Let us therefore love God, because God hath first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Because this extraordinary gift was given you through Jesus and through none other, it is friendship with Him to which you are called, for “No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). It is the humanity of Jesus that meets you where you are, that allows you to know the heart of God: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me” (Jeremias 9:23-24). Jesus is called the “propitiation,” which is used in the Old Testament as a sacrifice that wipes away sin and refers to the mercy seat of God’s presence on the ark of the covenant: “Thou shalt make also a propitiatory of the purest gold: the length thereof shall be two cubits and a half, and the breadth a cubit and a half” (Exodus 25:17), on which the high priest sprinkled blood to restore fellowship of Israel with God: “Upon this day shall be the expiation for you, and the cleansing from all your sins: you shall be cleansed before the Lord” (Leviticus 16:30). The importance of this for you, Theophila, is that you are on of those that “have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Apocalypse 7:14) that you may possess friendship and intimacy with God. His love is not a foreign reality to you but something that fills you, upholds you, and is given to you abundantly: “May God supply all your want, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Therefore, have faith in this same blood, for the cost of loving you was every drop of His Most Precious Blood: “I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). This then, St. Paul calls the “showing of his justice,” because as a rich man can display his riches most lavishly by giving his riches to those in his kingdom: “And he distributed to all the multitude of Israel, both men and women, to every one, a cake of bread, and a piece of roasted beef, and fine flour fried with oil” (2 Kings 6:19), God shows the abundance of His love by giving this same love in the form of His Son to each and every person that will open their hearts to receive Him: “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting” (John 3:16). This also shows God’s justice, for justice is rendering to each one their right, and God, understanding that His poor little creatures are fallen, broken, and lost: “And Jesus going out saw a great multitude: and he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd” (Mark 6:34), comes down with gentleness and love to mend the wounds that only He can mend: “Correct me, O Lord, but yet with judgment: and not in thy fury, lest thou bring me to nothing” (Jeremias 10:24). Therefore, realize that Jesus is the gentle Lamb, coming to you in love, having paid the debt and now drawing near to you as a best friend, spouse, brother, confidant, not overwhelming you with might but always approaching you with peace: “The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench” (Isaias 42:3); “Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: ‘Peace be to you’” (John 20:19). “Being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Finally, by your true, upright, faithful love, God is shown to be just, for it is His glory that is displayed when you love Him radically and show this love in your life and deeds: “Thine, O Lord, is magnificence, and power, and glory, and victory: and to thee is praise: for all that is in heaven, and in earth, is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art above all princes” (1 Paralipomenon 19:11); “Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory, and honour, and power” (Apocalypse 4:11). As such, “In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples” (John 15:8), because the more flowers you place in your love story, the lovelier it becomes, for “You are our epistle, written in our hearts, which is known and read by all men: being manifested, that you are the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:2-2). Live so immersed in God’s love that when the book of the love story of your life is presented at the end of days, the reaction of the heavenly host will play out just as it is written: “And when he had opened the book, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints: and they sung a new canticle, saying: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book and to open the seals thereof” (Apocalypse 5:8-9).

Romans 3:19-23

“Now we know, that what things soever the law speaketh, it speaketh to them that are in the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be made subject to God. Because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before him. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now without the law the justice of God is made manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the justice of God, by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe in him: for there is no distinction: for all have sinned, and do need the glory of God.”

The Old Testament sets forth the best set of moral teachings to be found before Christ. Plato, Aristotle, and other such thinkers have excellent but warped teachings due to their misunderstanding of God and the soul. The law is given by God for His people that they may learn how to love, though without grace this is an impossibility: “I am the vine; you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The law is given as moral precepts to those that need correction and how to worship God, all of which find their fulfillment in Jesus and His way of love: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not heavy” (1 John 5:3). The number of commandments throughout the Old and New Testaments stop every mouth from speaking of its own righteousness, for all human action is stained and imperfect in some fashion, if not by the action itself, by what the heart clings to in acting: “For the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two edged sword…. And is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Therefore, in recognizing how poorly you love, you can declare your imperfection and cling to God: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak” (Psalm 6:3). These stains show the unfathomable reaches of God’s mercy, and how it is in His love alone that goodness comes: “Not by the works of justice, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5). Now, there is in man a natural capacity to know and love God, but like something deflated and empty this is not realized without the grace of the Holy Spirit: “It is the spirit that quickeneth” (John 6:64); “the love of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us” (Romans 5:5). Therefore, the law shows what sin and poor love is, but it is the Holy Spirit that gives the ability to love, rather than simply following the works of the law: “For the letter killeth, but the spirit quickeneth” (2 Corinthians 3:6). It is the soul inflamed with love that walks the narrow road of the love of God, and it is this that manifests God’s goodness, that those who are ignorant of the law still walk madly in love with God and do all things for His sake. There are many great, learned men whose love of God is overshadowed by an uneducated old woman who simply loves her Jesus and converses with Him in simplicity. Because the law and the prophets could not bring Israel to love, they needed to point ahead to what, or Who, would draw love out of them. This love, expressed by faith, is the gift of God: “For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). It is the love that is given to Christ Jesus, the love that is Jesus, and the love that comes from Jesus, which looks into the mystery of the Trinity, that saves you: “That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts; that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth; to know also the love of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19).  All who turn to this merciful love are thereby justified, for God gives freely without considering the merits of His child: “If any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraideth not” (James 1:5). There is no distinction, no consideration, but only love: “For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27-28). Because you are loved by the Father as Jesus is loved by the Father, for you have put on Jesus, you receive the merits of Jesus and are justified as Jesus is justified. This is not because of following the law before entering into the life of the Trinity, but by the sheer gift of love: “Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Romans 3:9-18

“What then? Do we excel them? No, not so. For we have charged both Jews, and Greeks, that they are all under sin. As it is written: ‘There is not any man just. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. All have turned out of the way: they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, there is not so much as one’. ‘Their throat is an open sepulchre: with their tongues they have dealt deceitfully.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ ‘Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:’ ‘Their feet swift so shed blood: destruction and misery in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known:’ ‘there is no fear of God before their eyes.’

St. Paul here shows that Jesus lifts all that come to Him to Himself, considering neither heritage nor previous sin: “There is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision” (Colossians 3:11). All have sinned, the brokenness of man reached to all, including Israel, and them despite God’s many blessings and mercies. Because all are under sin, there is no claim to goodness as far as natural virtue goes, for being naturally good and having a burning love of God are entirely different realities. Being naturally courageous or temperate is a point of goodness in oneself, whereas loving is a gift from God: “And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them” (Acts 2:3). Jesus found the lowliest, most unglamorous men He could bring them to a place of extraordinary love: “Why wonder you at this? Or why look you upon us, as if by our strength or power we had made this man to walk? “(Acts 3:12). Without the illumination of the Holy Spirit to show one the love of God, all justice is stained, for even what is upright morally is easily stained by the love of self. Thus, there is not any man that is truly just without grace, for even the upright did not act from an abundance of love but out of righteousness, virtue, promise of reward, or fear. Those that acted from these sources but without the living flame of love did not understand, they walked in darkness of their own goodness but without the piercing love of God: “Thou hast wounded my heart with one of thy eyes” (Song 4:9). Thus, many sought, but none knew Him in the simplicity of love, for even though there are testaments of zeal for God: “With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts” (3 Kings 19:10), this was not done with love, with figures such as Elias having other things driving them. Thus, all have turned from the way of I Love You, all have become unprofitable, for they do great things without a tender love for their Lord: “’Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name?’ And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity’” (Matthew 7:22-23). Without divine love, all works fall short of Him, thus “there is none that does good.” This is why St. John the Baptist, a paragon of all virtue and goodness, is put in a seemingly strange place: “Amen I say to you, there hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is the lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). Without the ardent love of God given by the Holy Spirit, one cannot speak of Him from a heart filled with affection: “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45), with this loving excess being something beautiful to God: “Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue” (Song 4:11); “Well ordered words are as a honeycomb: sweet to the soul, and health to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24). Without a heart filled with love, one cannot help but speak at least with a note of bitterness, which is a poison to the one that hears. Love is gentle, speaking of the Beloved in a manner that is soft and pleasing, yet radiant with love, thus St. Paul exhorts: “Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamour, and blasphemy, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another; merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ” (Ephesians 4:31-32). Without the enticements and draws of love, the human person cannot but decline to other ways to seek happiness, which lead to ruin: “Of old time thou hast broken my yoke, thou hast burst my bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve” (Jeremias 2:20), but God promised His people: “I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love” (Osee 11:4) that true justice, the life and way of love, may be found. Without love, all is misery, destruction, and unrest, for love is the way of peace: “[Love] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). Because all human action, no matter how righteous, in stained in some form, either with fear, self-seeking, etc., all needed the merciful love of God to understand Him: “God is love” (1 John 4:16). This is typified by the tower of Babel: “Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven: and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands” (Genesis 11:4), for though the virtues are good and necessary, when they is separated from love they can only climb so high. Focusing on them rather than on letting your heart be captivated by God turns your attention from Him, and He is not smitten by the great heights of virtue in someone: “He seeth from eternity to eternity, and there is nothing wonderful before him” (Ecclesiasticus 39:25), but by their brokenness, which He longs to love. There is no human righteousness that reaches up to heaven, but it is only the gift of love that does this, which He gives freely: “For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8) that brings you close to Him. Therefore, strive only for love, seek nothing but love, love God, love yourself, love your neighbor as yourself, love all that He has made: “And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good” (Genesis 1:31), for love alone is forever, love alone binds you to God: “He that abideth in love, abideth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). Now, all this is so that there may be no rejoicing in your own goodness, but that you may always encounter the merciful love of God. He looks upon your imperfect work and frailty with ardent love and shows you His love by loving you and forgiving you through all of your imperfections and failures. He does not desire you to build a tower to heaven, but to let Him come down to you, for this is the nature of His Incarnation.

Romans 3:5-8

“But if our injustice commend the justice of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust, who executeth wrath? (I speak according to man.) God forbid: otherwise how shall God judge this world? For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie, unto his glory, why am I also yet judged as a sinner? And not rather (as we are slandered, and as some affirm that we say) let us do evil, that there may come good? Whose damnation is just.”

St. Paul, having noted that the merciful love of God had found expression by His honoring Judah-Israel, even through their dishonoring Him: “Israel is holy to the Lord, the first-fruits of his increase: all they that devour him offend: evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord” (Jeremias 2:3), then asks if God is unjust for honoring an unjust people. He showed His victorious arm time and time again through them: “Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: because he hath done wonderful things. His right hand hath wrought for him salvation, and his arm is holy” (Psalm 97:1). The question is, if He worked justice through the unjust, how can He justly punish? The response is that God is the supreme measure of justice, His love is justice, but in His abundant mercy He worked good despite the injustices of His people. If good can come from evil, then act in an evil manner to bring about good. St. Paul ferociously condemns this, saying that damnation is just in acting in an evil manner, for this is contrary to love. The Father is an infinite store of merciful love and reaches out to help and love every step of a person’s life, that they may learn the way of His love and follow it. But He is entirely against actions contrary to His love: “Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart. And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest” (Psalm 94:10-11). Though He brought Israel out of the desert, this was due to His unfathomable mercy and covenantal relationship with them. However, they dishonored Him throughout, and those that did not believe in His promises He did not allow to enter into the Promised Land. He longed to bring them to the place of rest, yet they resisted, never trusting in Him, and this is an insight into what God truly desires from you: A loving, trusting heart. He can work through your unjust actions, and these are beautiful opportunities to encounter His mercy, but when you trust Him, and let Him guide you by His Spirit of love, He works the most abundantly for His own glory. While “we know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good” (Romans 8:28), “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 6:16). You are called to an abundance of love, “therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), “let all your things be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14), that God may be glorified by your entire life, not having to work in spite of you, but with you and through you, that His love may find its fullest possible expression.

Romans 3:1-4

“What advantage then hath the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much every way. First indeed, because the words of God were committed to them. For what if some of them have not believed? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid. But God is true; and every man a liar, as it is written, ‘That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged.’”

The advantages of the Jews to receive the message of Christ are many, for there is a steeping in the ways of the Lord that reaches down to the depths of culture. Knowing God, loving God, and being instructed by God in the ways of love are the necessities of life: “But cleave ye unto the Lord your God: as you have done until this day” (Josue 23:8), “I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem” (Psalm 121:1-2). With the words of God already familiar to them, there is an understanding of the Christ that is a fulfillment, rather than something entirely new. “The Lord thy God hath chosen thee, to be his peculiar people of all the peoples that are upon the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6), and He did not flippantly give His commandments to them. It was a gift to the people with whom He had a covenant relationship through Abraham: “I will make my covenant between me and thee: and I will multiply thee exceedingly” (Genesis 17:2), which found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He remained with His people in His total faithfulness, for He does not draw back from those with whom He has given Himself. No, the Lord is faithful, both perfectly and constantly; through the failures, disasters, mistrust, and sadness you endure, He is there: “O praise the Lord, all ye nations, praise him, all ye people. For his mercy is confirmed upon us: and the truth of the Lord remaineth for ever” (Psalm 116). The words of the Lord were woven into the very fabric of Jewish culture, so that the appearance of Jesus was a fulfillment to some and a transgression of God’s word to others: “What is this then that is written, ‘The stone, which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?’” (Luke 20:17). The faithfulness of the Lord is constant, and He is true to His promises, and for those that are faithful to Him, His faithfulness is shown: “With the holy, thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent” (Psalm 17:26). If some do not receive the word of God and trust in what it contains, it does not nullify the words, but realize that His faithfulness is open to you, and He will never leave you. The more you bring Scripture into the fabric of your being, the more it will draw you into the very Heart of God: “With meekness receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). When it becomes as much a part of your identity as it was to Jewish culture, you will be able to see the faithfulness of God at all times: “How great troubles hast thou shewn me, many and grievous: and turning thou hast brought me to life, and hast brought me back again from the depths of the earth” (Psalm 70:20). No matter the depths to which you are brought down, He is there with you, loving you with compassion in your hurts and with joy in your rejoicing: “His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him” (Luke 1:50). If you read the history of Israel/Judea in the Old Testament, you will see the depths to which they fall and are brought back, with God showing His almighty love time and time again, despite all unworthiness on the part of His people. So too will He express His love to and through you at all times, that you may be a symbol of His supporting, upholding love, and that His words may find a realization in you. Finally, God rewards those who long for Him, as Israel-Judah did for generations. He does not leave His word unaccomplished or His people abandoned, but conquers the trials that are endured with His merciful love: “For he was mindful of us in our affliction: for his mercy endureth for ever. And he redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 135:23-24). The love of Jesus through His Holy Spirit is what had been pined for throughout the Old Testament, and God does not disdain His people. He sees all that you do and endure for Him, and like the loving Father He is, receives it with joy and compassion, and remains close to you, even when you cannot perceive it. Hold fast to your faith, cling to His love by faith, and “being justified therefore by faith, let us have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Be at peace with the God who loves you, and fulfills your deepest desires for love.

Romans 2:25-29

“Circumcision profiteth indeed, if thou keep the law; but if thou be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. If, then, the uncircumcised keep the justices of the law, shall not this uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not that which by nature is uncircumcision, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the law? For it is not he is a Jew, who is so outwardly; nor is that circumcision which is outwardly in the flesh: but he is a Jew, that is one inwardly; and the circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”

Circumcision is a kind of volunteering to obey the entirety of the Law: “And I testify again to eve3ry man circumcising himself, that he is a debtor to do the whole law” (Galatians 5:3). Therefore, to do it and transgress the Law is to remit the promise one made of oneself. The act itself points to a spiritual reality, the circumcision of the heart that it may praise God, which the Law itself points towards: “Therefore I also will walk against them, and bring them into their enemies; land until their uncircumcised mind be ashamed: then shall they pray for their sins” (Leviticus 26:41); “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen your neck no more” (Deuteronomy 10:16). Therefore, those who without the heritage, promise, and cultural integration of the Law obeyed the Law can look at those who did possess these things with confusion, for to have so many resources and not do what is commanded by the Most High is to fail to use the gifts that are given by God. Therefore, the one who, from an abundance of love for God in the heart, obeys God, is truly His child: “Do not begin to say, ‘We have Abraham for our father.’ For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (Luke 3:8). All of this is important because, in turning to God, you have received the promise of spiritual circumcision: “But you are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22). You have agreed to obey the commandment of love, to love as God has loved you: endlessly, without measure, without counting the cost. You have promised yourself to Him, that you may keep His ways: “I have restrained my feet from every evil way: that I may keep thy words” (Psalm 118:101). Therefore, it is wonderful to consider the rewards of the Old Covenant in spiritual terms, and realize that they are open to you: “And all these blessing shall come upon thee and overtake thee: yet so if thou hear his precepts” (Deuteronomy 28:2). You have opened your heart to God, that He may enter, and now you are His earthly dwelling place, His living tabernacle. Therefore, the entirety of the love story of Sacred Scripture is open to you: “as his unction teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie. And as it hath taught you, abide in him” (1 John 2:27). Thus, you are one of God’s chosen people, and you are called to walk according to His spirit, which is love. Therefore praise Him! Let your mouth be filled with rejoicing and praise, for this is the sacrifice pleasing to Him: “Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle” (Psalm 97:1), “I will give praise to thee, O Lord, with my whole heart” (Psalm 9:2), “And these things we write to you, that you may rejoice, and your joy may be full” (1 John 1:4). Love as God loves, and sing to Him always, for this is the fruit of a heart circumcised of sin, guilt, and sadness

Romans 2:17-24

“But if thou art called a Jew and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approves the more profitable things, being instructed by the law, art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, having the form of knowledge and of truth in the law. Thou therefore that teachest another, teachest not thyself: thou that preachest that men should not steal, stealest: thou that sayest, men should not commit adultery, committest adultery: thou that abhorrest idols, committest sacrilege: thou that makest thy boast of the law, by transgression of the law, dishonourest God. (‘For the name of God through you is blasphemed among the Gentiles,’ as it is written.’)”

Greater than any Greek philosopher or seeker of wisdom is the wisdom of the Old Testament, for in it are commandments to live uprightly, and much wisdom concerning the nature of God. It tells the story of God’s merciful love for His people, and how He always follows them to draw them back to Himself, even amongst grave infidelities: “Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee” (Isaias 49:15). There is a great knowledge of the one God in it, “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, for I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgement, and justice in the earth” (Jeremias 9:24), and in this knowledge many rested. To know His will by way of the commandments, being able to discern what the greater was from the lesser, and teaching others the wisdom of God and His commandments is what is laid out in many of the books of Scripture: “The wise man will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients, and will be occupied in the prophets. He will keep the sayings of renowned men, and will enter withal into the subtilties of parables” (Ecclesiasticus 39:1-2). These teachers thought that by their teaching, they were justified in the sight of God, not truly knowing the ways of the Lord. For the way of the Lord is a simple, all-encompassing way: “Jesus said to him: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’” (Matthew 22:37-39). It is not enough to teach, but to love, and to steal is to act contrary to love, as is to commit adultery, commit sacrilege, or to act in any way against the Law, for it was given as a structure of how to love by God to Israel. Now, when one loves, the way of the Lord is engraved upon the heart, for one that truly loves his wife does not need the fifth commandment, but will by love not act commit adultery against her. To have the way to love, but to act against it, is to have the letter but no spirit, to dwell in spiritual death despite having the words of life: “Thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:69). When others see the good that someone does because they are acting in accord with the ways of the Lord, they can be brought towards Him: “So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The good works of His people is the glory of God: “In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples” (John 15:8), and to bear His name but act contrary to His ways is to humiliate Him before others. It gives ground for others to blaspheme Him, because it seems that the whole tree is rotten for bringing forth bad fruit. No, the lover of God is to “put me as a seal upon thy heart,” with love, “as a seal upon thy arm” (Song 8:6) with works of love, that His nature may be seen through you. For it is not in isolated acts of love that make a Christian, but a life of love, a continual prayer, a love that is constant and unyielding. It is an art, which is painted and tailored by the Divine Artist. You are His canvas, and His brushstrokes are His words: “In this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:2-3). Therefore, St. Paul rebukes those who had the words of love and life and acted against them, telling them to find the spirit of the Law, which is love, and to act in accord with it, that God may be loved by those that see His love through His people.

Romans 2:12-16

“For whosoever have sinned without the law, shall perish without the law; and whosoever have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature those things that are of the law; these having not the law are a law to themselves: who shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness to them, and their thoughts between themselves accusing, or also defending one another, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.”

The King of Kings will “render to every man according to his works” (Romans 2:6). It is in the way of kings to condemn enemies without a hearing, but their own citizens through judgement, thus those who have lived sinfully without the words of Christ are entirely outside His domain: “Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth, render a reward to the proud. How long shall sinners, O Lord: how long shall sinners glory?” (Psalm 93:2-3). Thus, it is the loving Lord’s plea to His people to “Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), for Jesus “will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). You are a soldier of Christ, one to bring His love even to His enemies that His garden may flourish: “Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees” (Song 5:1). Without any knowledge of God’s ways, people go so easily astray, but the commandments and the lifting up of grace will bring others to know His merciful love. Now, those who know the commandments of God will dialogue with Jesus about their lives: “He that despiseth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). You can enter into dialogue with Jesus concerning His law through colloquial prayer and reading His words, to see in what you are lacking, and asking for the grace to keep His ways: “O Lord, my portion, I have said, I would keep thy law. I entreated thy face with all my heart: have mercy on me according to thy word” (Psalm 118:57-58). In this you can know the law of love, and receive the love to uphold it, confessing what falls short of perfect love and going to the Merciful Savior to receive His gentle judgement: “Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more” (John 8:11). When St. Paul discusses the hearers of the law, it incorporates a narrowing of the way of your life. To sit at your Master’s feet and hear His words is life itself: “But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). However, “Be ye not many masters, my brethren, knowing that you receive the greater judgement” (James 3:1). To know the ins and outs of the ways of the Lord, to hear His words and long for His ways is to call you into action, for to simply listen, without implementing what you hear, is injustice, and the more you know, the more will be expected of you. However, this is not to put a stricter grading curve upon you, but to realize that Jesus, the gentle encourager, is calling you to more: “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:24). Love pulls your soul out of hiding to run to the beloved, and He urges you to strive to the narrowest way, that you may do all things solely for Him: “I do all things for the gospel’s sake: that I may be made partaker thereof” (1 Corinthians 9:23); “How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!” (Matthew 7:14). St. Paul then commends those who upheld the moral precepts put forth by the law, in accord with human reason, such as blessed Job: “There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, and that man was simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil” (Job 1:1). However, “They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one” (Psalm 13:1). O poor little people, so reliant on love, so needing to be held and cherished by grace and prayer that goodness may proceed: “Lead me into the path of thy commandments; for this same I have desired” (Psalm 118:35). Yet this opens the way to knowing the loving tenderness of God, for natural goodness is admirable, as St. Paul here says, but the one that knows and relies on Him by grace is better: “But he that is the lesser in the kingdom of God, is greater than he” (Luke 7:28). Because “they that are whole, need not the physician: but they that are sick” (Luke 5:31), it is in your broken, imperfect places that you can most know the love of God, rather than in your glorious virtues. He will infuse into you by love the ability to love Him well, “He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me” (Song 2:4), and by what comes of it you may know that He has worked abundantly in you: “And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it, and this also was a point of wisdom, to know whose gift it was: I went to the Lord, and besought him” (Wisdom 8:21). Therefore, the Gospel will be the measure of the secrets of the hearts of all: “For ever one that doth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved. But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they are done in God” (John 3:20-21), and for you, o Theophila, this means to let love reign in your heart: “The love of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us” (Romans 5:5), that anything else may be blotted out: “I have blotted out thy iniquities as a cloud, and thy sins as a mist: return to me, for I have redeemed thee” (Isaias 44:22). Let nothing remain in your heart but the love of God, and He will bring you far beyond what men can attain by natural virtue alone.