The Holy Martyr Leontius.
Apostle’s Fast.
Romans 11:13-24; Matthew 11:27-30.
Read Romans 11:13-24
The following comes from “The Orthodox Study Bible” from the short article, “Is God Faithful to Israel?” on page 1539.
In the middle section of Saint Paul’s epistle to the Romans (9-11), he grapples with the perplexing theme of the Jews’ unbelief in their own promised Messiah. This matter not only causes Paul great anguish but also raises questions about God’s faithfulness to the Jewish people.
An accusation was circulating in the first century that God had not kept his promises to Israel, that He had unjustly abandoned His chosen people in favour of idol-worshipping Gentiles. Although many Jews believed in Christ, the majority of the Jewish people adhered to their old leaders and traditions. Meanwhile, increasing numbers of Gentiles were becoming Christians.
How was one to view these developments? What was God’s plans for Jews and Gentiles in this decisive period of the history of salvation? Why were most Jews unresponsive or opposed to the gospel while Gentiles were becoming the majority in the young Church?
Paul’s letter to the Romans indicates how important such questions were to Christians in the sixth decade of the first century. Has God been fair to Israel? Paul’s conclusion is yes: He has been faithful to Israel and through them to the Gentiles.
This quote gives a very good context to understand the image St. Paul uses about “provoking to jealousy” (Romans 11:14) and the image of branches broken off from the olive tree and the branches grafted onto the olive tree. (Romans 11:16-23).
Saint Paul’s greatest desire and his most profound motivation deep within his entire being is to bring such opposing groups of people into an authentic Holy Communion.
Catherine Doherty’s words beautifully express what this takes in her book, “The People of the Towel and the Water” … “How is anyone to achieve this miracle of grace? How can any Christian community – religious, lay, married, or single – achieve this life of pilgrimage, of prophecy, of openness, of listening to the hearts of men and women and to the Spirit, of making one’s life into an icon of the life of Christ? The same answer comes again and again, unmistakably: through prayer. What is impossible to us is possible to God and us. Prayer brings together, in a mysterious way, the mystery of our humanity and the mystery of God. Above all, to be filled with the strength of the Lord and replenish ourselves, we must go to the house of the Lord, which is the church. There we will centre our life on the Eucharistic Sacrifice. A community is a group of persons who have joined together because they are in love with God and in love with men and women. They want to bring God to men and men to God…” (Grace in Every Season; Daily Reflections selected by Mary Bazzett. Pages 166, 167)
I remember a comment once said, “The lives of the saints are not necessarily that they achieved such a high degree of sanctity, but that they had the vision of the direction to go… and spent their lives in that labour.” Amen and Amen.