God did not spare his own son.
Brothers and sisters:
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son
but handed him over for us all,
how will he not also give us everything else along with him?
Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones?
It is God who acquits us.
Who will condemn?
It is Christ Jesus who died, rather, was raised,
who also is at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us.
What will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
As it is written:
For your sake we are being slain all the day;
we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Commentary on Rom 8:31b-39
St. Paul bursts into a hymn proclaiming the victory over death and suffering experienced by the faithful, lifted up by God in Christ. The premise that the love of God assures salvation to the faithful is strengthened as the evangelist asks the rhetorical question “What will separate us from the love of Christ?” Over all obstacles (human, physical, and metaphysical; “height" and "depth” probably referred to ancient astrological terms indicating the closest proximity and the most distant star from the zenith), is the love of God expressed in Christ as the unshakable foundation of Christian life and hope.
The Apostle quotes Psalm 44:23 as his song denies that even death is a barrier between the faithful and God’s love. No earthly or spiritual force can stand against such love as that shown in Christ Jesus.
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B Or Appendix II, 15.
In my flesh I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.
Brothers and sisters:
You once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds;
God has now reconciled you
in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death,
to present you holy, without blemish,
and irreproachable before him,
provided that you persevere in the faith,
firmly grounded, stable,
and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard,
which has been preached to every creature under heaven,
of which I, Paul, am a minister.
I, Paul, rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his body, which is the church.
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Commentary on Col 1:21-24
St. Paul has just concluded his quotation of an early Christian hymn probably known to the Colossian church. In this selection he applies the promise of salvation contained in it to them. The Apostle reminds them that they are reconciled in Christ and encourages them to be faithful to the Gospel they have been given; the one true Gospel of which St. Paul is a minister. He concludes offering his own sufferings as redemptive for the whole church.
CCC: Col 1:20-22 2305
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
R.(7a) In my distress I called upon the Lord.
I love you, LORD, my strength,
The breakers of death surged round about me;
In my distress I called out: LORD!
They attacked me on a day of distress,
Psalm 18 is a song of thanksgiving for a military victory. The psalmist, in these strophes, rejoices in God’s saving power. The theme of the “rock” is a reference to the solid nature of the faith foundation. The strophes in this selection demonstrate faith in the face of dire circumstances and a sense of dependence upon God's love.
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GOSPEL
There by the cross of Jesus stood his mother.
Here is Jesus’ last address to his mother. Although the address sounds unnecessarily formal ("Woman, behold, your son.") this would have been considered a polite address in biblical times. The reference, “Woman”, is possibly to Genesis 3:15 which describes the mother of the Messiah as the “woman” whose offspring conquers the devil (CCC 726, 2618)[1]. The Lord, nearing the end of his life, commends the care of his mother to the disciple whom he loved. It is presumed this is done because Jesus has no brothers or sisters, and his adoptive father, Joseph, has already died.
In this instance, while it can be assumed that the disciple referred to is St. John, the author of the Gospel, the tender consignment of the care of the Lord’s mother is seen as iconic. That is, she is given into the care of all of the disciples, whom Jesus loves. Seeing her son dying upon the cross is one of the seven sorrows the Blessed Mother endured in faith.
CCC: Jn 19:25-27 726, 2618; Jn 19:25 495; Jn 19:26-27 501, 964, 2605; Jn 19:27 2677, 2679
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
R.(7a) In my distress I called upon the Lord.
I love you, LORD, my strength,
LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,
my God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord.
The breakers of death surged round about me;
the menacing floods terrified me.
The cords of Sheol tightened;
the snares of death lay in wait for me.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord.
In my distress I called out: LORD!
I cried out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry to him reached his ears.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord.
They attacked me on a day of distress,
but the LORD came to my support.
He set me free in the open;
he rescued me because he loves me.
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 18:2-3, 5-6, 7,19-20
Psalm 18 is a song of thanksgiving for a military victory. The psalmist, in these strophes, rejoices in God’s saving power. The theme of the “rock” is a reference to the solid nature of the faith foundation. The strophes in this selection demonstrate faith in the face of dire circumstances and a sense of dependence upon God's love.
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GOSPEL
There by the cross of Jesus stood his mother.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
Then he said to the disciple,
"Behold, your mother."
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
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Commentary on Jn 19:25-27
Here is Jesus’ last address to his mother. Although the address sounds unnecessarily formal ("Woman, behold, your son.") this would have been considered a polite address in biblical times. The reference, “Woman”, is possibly to Genesis 3:15 which describes the mother of the Messiah as the “woman” whose offspring conquers the devil (CCC 726, 2618)[1]. The Lord, nearing the end of his life, commends the care of his mother to the disciple whom he loved. It is presumed this is done because Jesus has no brothers or sisters, and his adoptive father, Joseph, has already died.
In this instance, while it can be assumed that the disciple referred to is St. John, the author of the Gospel, the tender consignment of the care of the Lord’s mother is seen as iconic. That is, she is given into the care of all of the disciples, whom Jesus loves. Seeing her son dying upon the cross is one of the seven sorrows the Blessed Mother endured in faith.
CCC: Jn 19:25-27 726, 2618; Jn 19:25 495; Jn 19:26-27 501, 964, 2605; Jn 19:27 2677, 2679
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[1] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. pp. 198
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