From: Romans 5:5-11
Reconciliation Through Christ’s Sacrifice, the Basis of our Hope
[6] While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. [7]
Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man — though perhaps for a good man
one will dare even to die. [8] But God shows His love for us in that while we were
yet sinners Christ died for us. [9] Since, therefore, we are now justified by His
blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. [10] For, if
while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much
more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. [11] Not only so,
but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have
now received our reconciliation.
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Commentary:
1-5. In this very moving passage God helps us see “the divine interlacing of the
three theological virtues which form the backing upon which the true life of every
Christian man or woman has to be woven” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 205).
Faith, hope and charity act in us in turn, causing us to grow in the life of grace.
Thus, faith leads us to know and be sure of things we hope for (cf. Hebrews 11:
1); hope ensures that we shall attain them, and enlivens our love of God; charity,
for its part, gives us energy to practise the other two theological virtues. The de-
finitive outcome of this growth in love, faith and hope is the everlasting peace that
is of the essence of eternal life.
As long as we are in this present life we do have peace to some degree — but
with tribulation. Therefore, the peace attainable in this life does not consist in the
contentment of someone who wants to have no problems, but rather in the reso-
luteness full of hope (”character”) of someone who manages to rise above suffe-
ring and stays faithful through endurance. Suffering is necessary for us, because
it is the normal way to grow in virtue (cf. James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:5-7); that is why
it is providential (cf. Philippians 1:19; Colossians 1:24) and leads to joy and hap-
piness (1 Thessalonians 1:6).
“A person who hopes for something and strives eagerly to attain it is ready to
endure all kinds of difficulty and distress. Thus, for example, a sick person if he
is eager to be healthy, is happy to take the bitter medicine which will cure him.
Therefore, one sign of the ardent hope that is ours thanks to Christ is that we
glory not only in the hope of future glory, but also in the afflictions which we suf-
fer in order to attain it” (St. Thomas Aquinas, “Commentary on Romans, ad.
loc.”).
A person who lives by faith, hope and charity realizes that suffering is not some-
thing meaningless but rather is designed by God for our perfecting. Perfection
consists “in the bringing of our wills so closely into conformity with the will of
God that, as soon as we realize He wills anything, we desire it ourselves with all
our might, and take the bitter with the sweet, knowing that to be His Majesty’s
will [...]. If our love is perfect, it has this quality of leading us to forget our own
pleasure in order to please Him whom we love. And that is indeed what happens”
(St. Teresa of Avila, “Book of Foundations”, Chapter 5).
5. The love which St. Paul speaks of here is, at one and the same time, God’s
love for us — manifested in His sending the Holy Spirit — and the love which God
places in our soul to enable us to love Him. The Second Council of Orange, quo-
ting St. Augustine, explains this as follows: “To love God is entirely a gift of God.
He, without being loved, loves us and enabled us to love Him. We were loved
when we were still displeasing to Him, so that we might be given something
whereby we might please Him. So it is that the Spirit of the Father and the Son,
whom we love with the Father and the son, pours charity into our hearts” (Se-
cond Council of Orange, “De Gratia”, Canon 25; cf. St. Augustine, “In Ioann.
Evang.”, 102, 5).
6-11. The friendship which reigned in Paradise between God and man was fol-
lowed by the enmity created by Adam’s sin. By promising a future redeemer,
God once more offered mankind His friendship. The scale of God’s love for us
can be seen in the “reconciliation” which the Apostle speaks about, which took
place on the Cross, when Christ did away with this enmity, making our peace
with God and reconciling us to Him (cf. Ephesians 2:15-16).
The petition in the Our Father, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those
that trespass against us”, is an invitation to imitate the way God treats us, be-
cause by loving our enemies “there shines forth in us some likeness to God our
Father, who, by the death of His Son, ransomed from everlasting perdition and
reconciled to Himself the human race, which before was most unfriendly and
hostile to Him” (”St. Pius V Catechism”, IV, 14, 19).
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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: Romans 6:3-9
Baptism (Continuation)
[5] For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be
united with Him in a resurrection like His. [6] We know that our old self was cru-
cified with Him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no lon-
ger be enslaved to sin. [7] For He who has died is freed from sin. [8] But if we
have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. [9] For we know
that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has
dominion over him.
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Commentary:
1-11. The universal dominion of sin, which began with the sin of Adam, is not
the only event to be reckoned with. When sin reached its full extent, the grace
brought by Jesus Christ came in superabundance. Through Baptism this grace
reaches each of us and frees us from the control of sin. When we receive this Sa-
crament we die: that is to say, our blameworthiness is destroyed, we renounce
sin once and for all, and are born again into a new life.
“The Lord”, St. Ambrose tells the newly baptized, “who wanted His benefactions
to endure, the serpent’s plans to be turned to naught, and the harm done to be
put right, delivered a sentence to mankind: ‘You are dust, and to dust you shall
return’ (Genesis 3:19), and made man subject to death [...]. The remedy was gi-
ven him: man would die and rise again [...]. You ask me how? [...] Pay attention.
So that in this world too the devil’s snare would be broken, a rite was instituted
whereby man would die, being alive, and rise again, being alive [...]. Through im-
mersion in water the sentence is blotted out: ‘You are dust, and to dust you shall
return’” (”De Sacramentis”, II, 6).
This passage of the epistle, which reveals the key truths concerning Baptism,
also reminds us of the profound meaning of this rite which Christ established, its
spiritual effects in Christians and its far-reaching effects with respect to the Chris-
tian life. Thus, we can apply to Baptism what St. Thomas Aquinas says about
all the sacraments: “Three aspects of sanctification may be considered — its very
cause, which is Christ’s Passion; its form, which is grace and the virtues; and its
ultimate end, which is eternal life. And all these are signified by the sacraments.
Consequently, a sacrament is a sign which is both a reminder of the past, that
is, of the Passion of Christ, and an indication of what is effected in us by Christ’s
Passion, and a foretelling and pledge of future glory” (”Summa Theologiae”, III, q.
60, a. 3).
In the specific case of Baptism, the various things which the Sacrament implies
carry a special nuance — a new birth which presupposes a symbolic death. It re-
produces in us not only the Passion, Death and burial of Christ, symbolized by
immersion in water (verses 3-4, 6), but also new life, the life of grace which pours
into the soul, enabling the person to share in the Resurrection of Christ (verses
4-5). This sharing in Christ’s Resurrection to immortal life is a kind of seed which
will ultimately produce the glorious resurrection of our bodies.
The baptized person is, therefore, someone newly created, someone born into a
new life, someone who has moved out of darkness into light. The white garment
used at Baptism symbolizes innocence and grace; the burning candle, the light
of Christ — two symbols the Church uses in the baptismal liturgy to signify what
is happening.
Thus, in Baptism, God “removes every trace of sin, whether original or personal”
(”The Rite of Baptism”, Introduction, 5) and also remits the penalties that these
sins incur. On being baptized in the name of the Three Divine Persons, the Chris-
tian is shown God the Father’s love for him (a love he has not merited), is given
a share in the Paschal Mystery of the Son, and to him is communicated new life
in the Spirit (cf. “Instruction on Infant Baptism”, 20 October 1980, 9). Baptism,
which is also described as “the door of the spiritual life”, unites a person to Christ
and to the Church by means of grace, which makes us children of God and heirs
to Heaven. Finally, in addition to the infused virtues and supernatural gifts, the per-
son is given “the graces necessary to live in a Christian way, and on his soul is
impressed the sacramental character which makes him a Christian for evermore”
(”St. Pius X Catechism”, 250).
Baptism, which confers a “character”, that is, a kind of seal confirming our Chris-
tian calling, gives us a share in Christ’s priesthood and makes us capable of re-
ceiving the other sacraments.
4. It is easier to grasp the symbolism of burial and resurrection if one remembers
that in earlier times, and particularly in the apostolic period, Baptism was usually
administered by immersion in water — in some cases by total immersion, up to
three times, with one Person of the Blessed Trinity being invoked each time.
“They asked you, ‘Do you believe in God the Father almighty?’ You said, ‘I believe’,
and you were immersed, that is, you were buried. Again they asked you, ‘Do you
believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and in His Cross?’ You said, ‘I believe’, and you
were again immersed. This time you have been buried with Christ, and he who is
buried with Christ rises with Christ. For a third time you were asked, ‘Do you be-
lieve in the Holy Spirit?’ You said, ‘I believe’, and for a third time you were im-
mersed, so that by this three-fold confession you might be loosed of your many
attachments to your past life” (St. Ambrose, “De Sacramentis”, II, 7).
Today Baptism is normally administered by pouring water over the head — a me-
thod also used in apostolic times and which gradually came into general use be-
cause it was found more convenient.
5. Just as the ingraft and the plant form a single thing and make a single princi-
ple of life, Christians by being grafted onto or incorporated into Christ through
Baptism form one single thing with Him and begin to draw on His divine life. We
are also “united with Him in a death like His”: Christ suffered physical death; we,
in Baptism, die spiritually to the life of sin. St. John Chrysostom explains this
as follows: “Baptism is for us what the Cross and burial were for Christ; but with
this difference: the Savior died physically, He was physically buried, whereas
we ought to die spiritually. That is why the Apostle does not say we are ‘united
with Him with His death’, but ‘in a death like his’” (”Hom. on Rom.”, 10).
9-10. Jesus Christ chose to bear all the consequences of sin, even though He
was sinless. His voluntary death on the Cross and His glorious Resurrection
broke the bonds of death, for Himself and for all His own. Death no longer shall
have dominion: “[Christ died] that through death He might destroy him who has
the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of
death were subject to lifelong bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15). And as a conse-
quence He won, for His own human nature and for us, a new life.
In all those who have been baptized these same events in Christ’s life are in
some way reproduced. “Our past sins have been wiped out by the action of
grace. Now, so as to stay dead to sin after Baptism, personal effort is called
for, although God’s grace continues to be with us, providing us with great help”
(Chrysostom, “Hom. on Rom.”, 11). This personal effort might be encapsulated
in a resolution: “May we never die through sin; may our spiritual resurrection
be eternal” (St. J. Escriva, “Holy Rosary”, 1st Glorious Mystery).
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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.