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From: Romans 8:1-11

Life in the Spirit

[1] There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
[2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law
of sin and death. [3] For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh,
could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he
condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the just requirement of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
[5] For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the
flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of
the Spirit. [6] To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the
Spirit is life and peace. [7] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God;
it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; [8] and those who are in the
flesh cannot please God.

[9] But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really
dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong
to him. [10] But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin,
your spirits are alive because of righteousness. “If the Spirit of him who raised Je-
sus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will
give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.

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Commentary:

1-13. After original sin man is pulled in two different directions: either he seeks
God above all things and contends, with God’s grace, against the inclinations
of his own concupiscence; or else he lets himself be overwhelmed by the dis-
ordered passions of the flesh. The former lifestyle is “life in the Spirit”, the latter,
life “according to the flesh”. “There are only two possible ways of living on this
earth: either we live a supernatural life, or we live an animal life” (St. J. Escriva,
“Friends of God”, 200).

Sanctifying grace is the source of life “according to the Spirit”. It is not a matter
of simply being in the state of grace or of performing a number of regular pious
practices. Life according to the Spirit — spiritual or supernatural life — means a
living-according-to-God which influences everything a Christian does: he is con-
stantly trying to bring his thoughts, yearnings, desires and actions into line with
what God is asking of him; in everything he does he tries to follow the inspira-
tions of the Holy Spirit.

Life according to the flesh, on the other hand, has its source in the triple concu-
piscence which is a consequence of original sin—”all that is in the world the lust
of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 Jn 2:16). In this pre-
sent life it is not possible to kill concupiscence at its root: it is forever producing
new growths. The Christian is freed from original sin through Baptism (chap. 6);
the coming of Christ has set aside the ritualistic precepts of the Mosaic Law
(chap. 7); but his life in Jesus Christ is threatened by concupiscence even after
Baptism, which places him under the Law of the Spirit. “We need to submit to
the spirit, to wholeheartedly commit ourselves and strive to keep the flesh in its
place. By so doing our flesh will become spiritual again. Otherwise, if we give in
to the easy life, this will lower our soul to the level of the flesh and make it car-
nal again” (St John Chrysostom, “Hom. on Rom”, 13).

3. Man was unable to free himself from sin through his own efforts or even with
the help of the Old Law. But what is impossible for man is possible for God.
God in fact freed man from sin by sending his own Son, who became man and
conquered sin through his death. If we unite ourselves to the merits of Christ
and obtain a share in his Resurrection, we too can overcome sin.

By assuming human nature the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity chose to
take on the likeness of sinful flesh, but not sin itself. He could have assumed a
glorious body, but “since man has three states — namely, innocence, sin, and
glory — Christ assumed from the state of glory the beatific vision; from the state
of innocence, freedom from sin; and from the state of sin, the necessity of being
subject to the penalties of this life” (St Thomas Aquinas, “Summa Theologiae”,
Ill, q. 13, a. 3, ad 2).

These disabilities—hunger, fatigue, suffering and especially death—are what con-
stitutes “sinful flesh”. By making himself subject to them Christ became like us,
thereby making it easier for us to know him and assuring us that he will not aban-
don us even when we experience these limitations.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Luke 13:1-9

The Need for Repentance

[1] There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. [2] And he answered them,
“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Gali-
leans, because they suffered thus? [3] I tell you, No; but unless you repent you
will all likewise perish. [4] Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell
and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others
who dwelt in Jerusalem? [5] I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all like-
wise perish.”

Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

[6] And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and
he came seeking fruit on it and found none. [7] And he said to the vinedresser,
‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none.
Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ [8] And he answered him, ‘Let it
alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. [9] And if it bears
fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

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Commentary:

1-5. Our Lord used current events in his teaching. The Galileans referred to here
may be the same as mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (5:37). The episode
was fairly typical of the times Jesus lived in, with Pilate sternly suppressing any
sign of civil unrest. We do not know anything about the accident at Siloam other
than what the Gospel tells us.

The fact that these people died in this way does not mean that they were worse
than others, for God does not always punish sinners in this life (cf. Jn 9:3). All
of us are sinners, meriting a much worse punishment than temporal misfortune:
we merit eternal punishment; but Christ has come to atone for our sins, he has
opened the gates of heaven. We must repent of our sins; otherwise God will not
free us from the punishment we deserve. “When you meet with suffering, the
Cross, your thought should be: what is this compared with what I deserve?” (St.
J. Escriva, “The Way”, 690)

3. “He tells us that, without Holy Baptism, no one will enter the Kingdom of
heaven (cf. Jn 3:5); and, elsewhere, that if we do not repent we will all perish (Lk
13:3). This is all easily understood. Ever since man sinned, all his senses rebel
against reason; therefore, if we want the flesh to be controlled by the spirit and
by reason, it must be mortified; if we do not want the body to be at war with the
soul, it and all our senses need to be chastened; if we desire to go to God, the
soul with all its faculties needs to be mortified” (St John Mary Vianney, “Selec-
ted Sermons”, Ash Wednesday).

6-9. Our Lord stresses that we need to produce plenty of fruit (cf. Lk 8:11-15) in
keeping with the graces we have received (cf. Lk 12:48). But he also tells us that
God waits patiently for this fruit to appear; he does not want the death of the sin-
ner; he wants him to be converted and to live (Ezek 33:11) and, as St Peter tea-
ches, he is “forbearing towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that
all should reach repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). But God’s clemency should not lead us
to neglect our duties and become lazy and, comfort-seeking, living sterile lives.
He is merciful, but he is also just and he will punish failure to respond to his
grace.

“There is one case that we should be especially sorry about—that of Christians
who could do more and don’t; Christians who could live all the consequences of
their vocation as children of God, but refuse to do so through lack of generosity.
We are partly to blame, for the grace of faith has not been given us to hide but
to share with others (cf. Mt 5:15f). We cannot forget that the happiness of these
people, in this life and in the next, is at stake. The Christian life is a divine won-
der with immediate promises of satisfaction and serenity—but on condition that
we know how to recognize the gift of God (cf. Jn 4:10) and be generous, not
counting the cost” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 147).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.