Clearer from the outside

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today give a message that we need to expect that our shallow review of the message from the Good News needs to be deepened. We hear the salutation of Paul which begins the Letter to the Romans. This introduction traces the origin of Jesus in the House of David and proclaims the revelation of the Son of God through resurrection and a message of the law of faith whereby the followers of Jesus will go deeper into the Love of this communion with God which has drawn Paul to be an apostle. The psalmist restates that we are heirs to the faithfulness and marvelous works of God which are within the history of salvation in the Hebrew Testament. The Gospel from Luke has Jesus cite two high points in the Jewish Tradition. He presents the era of the Kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon when foreign royal personages were attracted to Jerusalem as the centre where the Wisdom of God was to be approached. He recalls the repentance of Nineveh after the reluctant work of Jonah which was an overwhelming statement of a people desiring to return to God. The message of Jonah is read at Yom Kippur to underline that forgiveness is the nature of God. The Wisdom and Forgiveness of God are, according to Luke, seen by the foreigners and are not appreciated by the Chosen People. The message of Paul is received by the Gentiles and is scandal to the Jewish community in which Jesus, Peter and Paul have their spiritual formation. Our complacency with this transformative invitation to intimacy with the Son of God threatens to leave us on the sidelines of True Life.