St. Paul’s letter to the Romans is deep!

The 27 books of the New Testament aren’t really all books. Twenty-one of the 27 in the New Testament are letters with Saint Paul writing more than half of the letters. Saint Paul originally was known as Saul of Tarsus, a devout Jew. A passionate and difficult man whose writings, after the historic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, reflect those same traits.
 
The second letter of Peter mentions this in Ch. 3 verses 15-16: “…consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, also wrote to you, speaking of these things as he does in all his letters. In them there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.”
 
God has called this imperfect man to be the missionary to the gentiles, a theologian and the receiver of divine inspiration as he becomes God’s instrument in writing these various letters, but I want to emphasize one idea, it is not easy to read Paul. He adapts his message to his various audiences while at the same time you can see how his own understanding of profound truths is developing. This is why his writings should be considered as a whole with the rest of the New Testament.
 
The letter to the Romans, while not being his first letter, is his longest and most profound letter.
 
This letter is his opportunity to go deeper into, and continue to develop, the themes he spoke about in his letter to the Galatians. He is speaking to the Christians in Rome, a task that is not an easy one.
Rome had various groups of Christians and not all of them got along with each other. First, you have the Christians who were converts from Judaism. They came from the culture of Jewish feasts, festivals and holy days. They were knowledgeable of the Old Testament and the synagogue manner of worship. The grew up hoping and praying for the promised messiah and when the gospel came to Rome many welcomed the Lord into their lives.
 
Second, we have the gentiles, the largest group of Christians in Rome. These Christians, with no Jewish background, are the citizens of Rome that Paul wanted to make personal contact with, also welcomed the Lord into their lives. Romans 1, 13 clearly states: “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, though I was prevented until now, that I might harvest some fruit among you, too, as among the rest of the gentiles.”
 
Both groups residing in Rome are addressed by Paul and each group also has unique needs. Paul addresses these needs and walks a fine line between them. He welcomes the gentiles while reminding them that salvation, which is for everyone, first came to the Jews. In doing so, we can see how the Holy Spirit is clearly speaking and working through him. He is a great example of how to evangelize different cultural groups and bring them together as one family in Christ.
 
Scott Hahn, in his groundbreaking commentary to Romans (part of the series Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture), breaks down the key themes in Romans in the following way: “The theology of Romans may be summarized under four headings: (1) God’s righteousness as the basis of salvation, (2) the benefits of salvation for humanity, (3) the salvation of Israel in particular, and (4) the responsibilities that salvation places on the Christian community.”
 
I invite you to do some Lectio Divina with Romans. Pick a few verses from Ch. 5 through Ch. 11. Here are the first two verses from Ch. 5: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access (by faith) to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.”
 
Thank you, Lord, for your gift of the letter to the Romans. Amen.