It’s been awhile since I’ve done Scripture memory.
New Year’s Resolution?
Maybe.
Blog a bit some days and memorize verses?
I found an app that has commentary from the Church Fathers and St. Thomas Aquinas - all the old, dead white guys that I love. So, Thomas’ comments will influence what I say, probably. Don’t blame Thomas for anything, either.
I don’t blame any of them for what I might say. I don’t blame the Holy Spirit.
Hopefully anyone reading this will be inspired to dig deep into Scripture. Surely you can do much better than what I write.
Organize thoughts - as best I can by grace.
Think about what words mean - as best I can by grace.
Grace perfects nature.
- St. Thomas Aquinas
Start what what I have. See what God does with it.
You can do better. I can do better.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
Romans 1
- Open my eyes, that I may see
- Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
- Place in my hands the wonderful key
- That shall unclasp and set me free.
- Refrain 1:
- Silently now I wait for Thee,
- Ready my God, Thy will to see,
- Open my eyes, illumine me,
- Spirit divine!
- Open my ears, that I may hear
- Voices of truth Thou sendest clear;
- And while the wave notes fall on my ear,
- Everything false will disappear.
- Refrain 2:
- Silently now I wait for Thee,
- Ready my God, Thy will to see,
- Open my ears, illumine me,
- Spirit divine!
- Open my mind, that I may read
- More of Thy love in word and deed;
- What shall I fear while yet Thou dost lead?
- Only for light from Thee I plead.
- Refrain 3:
- Silently now I wait for Thee,
- Ready my God, Thy will to see,
- Open my mind, illumine me,
- Spirit divine!
- Open my mouth, and let me bear,
- Gladly the warm truth everywhere;
- Open my heart and let me prepare
- Love with Thy children thus to share.
- Refrain 4:
- Silently now I wait for Thee,
- Ready my God, Thy will to see,
- Open my heart, illumine me,
- Spirit divine!
1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God,
Who was Paul? Slave. Called. Apostle.
Who did he serve? Christ Jesus. In his other writings we see that he served God’s people as well. Vertical. Horizontal relationships. His attitude was that of a servant, not a ruler even though he was an apostle with the highest level of authority in the Church besides Jesus, our Head. Peter was the leader in this highest level.
Our egalitarian society doesn’t like talk of hierarchy. Yet there it is in the Bible. We have to deal with it if we are part of the Church. It’s for our good.
Yet spiritually, someone at the bottom of the organizational pyramid might be far above even the Pope. The great in God’s Kingdom are those who serve. God’s ways aren’t the same as mankind's.
Matthew 23:11The greatest among you shall be your servant.Word association.: Serve. Listen. Go. Preach. Share. Live. Named. Savior. Samuel (see his call in 1 Samuel 3)
A. Paul also went by the name “Saul”. There are a number of possible reasons for this.
It may have been his given Roman name, while Saul was his Jewish name.
It may have been a name he took for himself after the conversion of Sergius Paulus in the book of Acts.
Since Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles - the nations - he may have wanted to use his Roman name to better connect with his audience. It would show that the Gospel is for all, not just for Jews. It would serve as a kind of bridge between the two cultures - Roman and Jewish.
B. He considered himself to be a slave. Jesus said His disciples were His friends, so why did Paul call himself a slave?
I’ll put on my housewife, mother, & now Grandma super heroine cape to answer. I serve all of them, but I don’t have to. I want to.
Well, sometimes I tell them to do it themselves, but that may be serving them as well. If I do everything for them, how will they learn to serve others?
We serve our loved ones. All of us serve one another in a family - or we should.
It is our duty motivated by love. The family of God is no different.
Galatians 5:13
New Living Translation
For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
We use our freedom to serve one another. Sounds like one of those Biblical paradoxes that so many in our crazy world find so hard to understand.
One is either free or a slave. It can’t be both. Yet it is. Look to Jesus for more instruction.
C. Called
What is your vocation - your calling? Hmmm. Paul’s was to be an apostle. An apostle is one sent on a special mission - a missionary.
Our main purpose here on this earth is to glorify God and help others come to now Him. We are sent into the world as Christians - little Christs. That’s pretty scary when you think about it.
The goal of our life - the telos - is to know God.
Here’s how the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it.
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b][a]. Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev.4:11[b]. Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev.21:3-4What area are you supposed to live this mission out? We are all called to be servants and even sent ones, but not all have the same job. See the Body of Christ teaching in Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 12, etc.
In our world, bearing and raising children is supposed to be a secondary vocation. In God’s economy, there is nothing more blessed and important. See the Blessed Virgin as an example of this, as well as St. Joseph. The Holy Family is the prototype.
That is revolutionary thinking in our day, and it was back in the 1st Century.
Then we all have other jobs we do.
How do you put it altogether?
Paul’s first priority was to serve God. The rest flows from that, I guess.
Then the idea of God’s calling leads to a lot of deep thinking! I’ll leave it there for now.
D. The Gospel of God
Good News
From God
About God
Summary of the Gospel - Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, appearance to His followers
Chapter 15[a]The Gospel Teaching.[b] 1 Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. 2 Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 [c]For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; 4 that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; 5 that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. 9 For I am the least[d] of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God [that is] with me. 11 Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Christ didn’t just die for our sins. He rose again from the dead. He didn’t just rise from the dead. He spent time with His followers after He rose.
Certitude.
Well, so much more can be said, and has been said.
Now to memorize it...and keep thinking about it...
