Replies

From: Romans 8:35, 37-39

Trust in God

[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? [37] No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am sure
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

31-39. The elect will emerge unscathed and victorious from all attacks, dangers
and sufferings and will do so not through their own efforts but by virtue of the all-
powerful aid of him who has loved them from all eternity and who did not hesitate
to have his own Son die for their salvation. It is true that as long as we are on
this earth we cannot attain salvation, but we are assured that we will attain it pre-
cisely because God will not withhold all the graces we need to obtain this happy
outcome: all that is needed is that we desire to receive this divine help. Nothing
that happens to us can separate us from the Lord—not fear of death or love of life,
not the bad angels or devils, not the princes or the powers of this world, nor the
sufferings we undergo or which threaten us nor the worst that might befall us.
“Paul himself”, St John Chrysostom reminds us, “had to contend with numerous
enemies. The barbarians attacked him; his custodians laid traps for him; even
the faithful, sometimes in great numbers, rose against him; yet Paul always
came out victorious. We should not forget that the Christian who is faithful to the
laws of his God will defeat both men and Satan himself” (”Hom. on Rom”, 15).

This is the attitude which enables us to live as children of God, who fear neither
life nor death: “Our Lord wants us to be in the world and to love the world but
without being worldly. Our Lord wants us to remain in this world—which is now
so mixed up and where the clamor of lust and disobedience and purposeless
rebellion can be heard—to teach people to live with joy [...]. Don’t be afraid of the
paganized world: our Lord has in fact chosen us to be leaven, salt and light in
this world. Don’t be worried. The world won’t harm you unless you want it to. No
enemy of our soul can do anything if we don’t consent. And we won’t consent,
with the grace of God and the protection of our Mother in heaven” (S. Bernal,
“Monsignor Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer”, p. 213).

38-39. “Angels”, “principalities”: names of different angelic hierarchies (cf. Eph
1:21; 3:10); also a possible reference to fallen angels, demons (cf. 1 Cor 15:24;
Eph 6:12). “Powers” can mean the same as “angels” and “principalities”.

“Height” and “depth” may refer to cosmic forces which, in the culture of that time,
were thought to have some influence over the lives of men.

By listing these powerful superior forces (real or imaginary) St Paul is making the
point that nothing and nobody, no created thing, is stronger than God’s love for us.

*********************************************************************************************
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: Matthew 14:13-21

First Miracle of the Loaves and Fish

[13] Now when Jesus heard this, He withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely
place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the
towns. [14] As He went ashore He saw a great throng; and He had compassion
on them, and healed their sick. [15] When it was evening, the disciples came to
Him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds
away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” [16] Jesus said, “They
need not go away; you give them something to eat.” [17] They said to Him, “We
have only five loaves here and two fish.” [18] And He said, “Bring them here to
Me.” [19] Then He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the
five loaves and the two fish He looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and
gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. [20]
And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the
broken pieces left over. [21] And those who ate were about five thousand men,
besides women and children.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

14-21. This episode must have occurred in the middle of springtime, because the
grass was green (Mark 6:40; John 6:10). In the Near East loaves were usually
made very thin, which meant it was easy to break them by hand and distribute
them to those at table; this was usually done by the head of the household or the
senior person at the meal. Our Lord follows this custom, and the miracle occurs
when Jesus breaks the bread. The disciples then distribute it among the crowd.
Here again we can see Jesus’ desire to have people cooperate with Him.

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