Epistle 0709 Reflection

The Epistle

Romans 7:15-25a

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.  But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.  For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh.  I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.  So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.  For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.  Wretched man that I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

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I love this reading.  It is in this Epistle that I think I can relate the most to St. Paul the Apostle.  I have quoted this so many times when preaching.  Here we are reminded of an internal struggle that is constantly taking place in the heart of the Christian.  We know well what we should do.  We know what the faith expects, even requires of us.  And yet time and time again we find ourselves doing the very opposite.  Truly we are our own worst enemy.  But the comfort of this Epistle is the comfort of the Gospel.  We have not been left alone to battle in isolation.  Paul asks: “who shall rescue me from this body of death.”  What he is truly asking is this: “Who will save me from myself?”  And the apostle has the answer.  In saying, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” he is showing that he knows it is none other than Jesus, true God in our midst, who will continue to act on our behalf, especially in those moments when we fail to do that which we know we should, and find ourselves doing those things that are not profitable, life-giving, or life-sustaining.  We rely at all times upon Christ, especially those moments when we are most aware of our need for a savior.  We have one!  His name is Jesus, whom with St. Thomas, we declare to be “My Lord and My God!”

Father Tim+