HOW WILL THEY KNOW?

HOW WILL THEY KNOW?

10/30/19

“We do not know how to pray as we should in times of stress.

Then the Holy Spirit prays for us in the very strongest way.

Then the One who searches the heart understands what the Spirit

Is asking.” Rom: 8:26-27

Of all Paul’s letters, the letter to the Romans is my favorite.  I thought it appealed because the people of Rome were more like us city folk and he found it easy to speak to them.  I was wrong about that.  I never knew until recently that St. Paul was not the founder of the church in Rome. What is more interesting is no one knows exactly who was responsible for bringing the message of Christ to Rome. 

My late son, who in addition to being a military officer, was also a military historian, who reveled in history.  I used to have to pedal really fast to keep up with him in that area.  I did my best and we shared some great conversations.  One thing he was convinced of is that the Centurion who stated at the Cross-that Jesus was truly the Messiah, was the same officer whose servant Jesus cured.  My son also reveled in the fact that one of things that drove the Emperor Nero mad was the knowledge that half of the soldiers in the Roman army were Christians.  Too bad David isn’t here to proclaim that the self-same centurion may have begun the conversion of the Romans.

If that were true, it would be a sign to all Christians that sharing the Good News is everyone’s responsibility.  Albert Camus puts it like this: 

            

            “What the world expects of Christians is that they should speak out, loud and clear; that they should voice their convictions in such a way that not even the slightest doubt could arise in the heart of the simplest person.”

The first thing we must ask ourselves as we consider what this would mean to us, is “What exactly is the Good News?”  I know what it is for me, but we all have to pray to know and trust that the Spirit is there to help. Take the Centurion for example.  He was the leader of men, a very rough crowd of men, so the message had to be strong and convincing.  His presence at the crucifixion of Jesus would be his stepping off point. These men all had been treated heartlessly. Many of them came from places very far from Rome, which they never expected to ever see again.  They were exactly the people who needed to hear how Jesus bore his suffering without condemnation of his executioners who were Roman soldiers.  That God loved them regardless of their link to Rome and was merciful to all people including them.  

That basically is what every one should come to know and as Paul puts it at another time,   “ How will they know if no one tells them?  

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA