Life Together (2nd Sunday of Advent)

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Click here for this Sunday’s Old Testament reflection (The Root of Jesse)

Continuing the theme of practical Christian living which began with last week’s second reading, Romans 15 talks about how Christians are to live in harmony with and mutual submission to one another in accordance with the Gospel. St. Paul begins the chapter by encouraging believers to please their neighbour and to build them up, and especially exhorts those who are stronger in the faith to do this for those who are not as strong (Romans 15:1-2). He then uses Christ as the chief example of how this is to be done in verse 3 where he states: “For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.’” (Romans 15:3, quoting Psalm 69:9).

Just as Christ did not live for His own pleasure, we too are to imitate His example by putting the needs of others before our own. N.T. Wright captures the message of this passage when he states that Paul “is insisting that all Christians should learn to think the same about mutual submission in accordance with the Messiah.”¹ Later on he elaborates on this, stating: “The point of it all is not simply being able to live in peace and quiet without squabbling. That would be, so to speak, simply clearing the ground of rubble. The point is to build: and what needs to be built is the common life of praise and worship.”²

The ultimate goal of this is for the Christian community to be a reflection of God’s Kingdom, a city on a hill (cf. Matthew 5:14), and a place where faith, hope and love abide (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:13). By living out these virtues, the nations who do not know Christ will be inspired by our example towards conversion and worship of the one true God, in whom they will find all hope and peace.

As we enter into the second week of Advent, we should seek to find ways to promote not just love and harmony within our parishes and church communities but mutual advancement in faith, hope and love, and so set the example for those around us to follow, for the sake of spreading the Gospel to all nations.

J. Luis Dizon

Notes