Other thoughts and comments on the 2nd Reading:
11 And do this because: The following verses provide the motivation for the love that is encouraged in Romans 13:8-10.
you know the time: Our reading today is an exhortation to the Roman Christians to realize that they are already living in the end times. The two ages have met. “Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
**it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed: **Christians cannot afford to remain in the unprotected condition of being dressed in bedclothes at a time when the situation calls for armor (see 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8). As far as salvation, their eternal life, was concerned, their past life was like that of one who sleeps and does nothing. This has all changed now, they must be active, up and doing what the Gospel prescribes. Each day brings nearer the judgment, which will decide their eternal fate.
“The time is short. … The day of resurrection and of the terrible judgment is fast approaching … If you have done everything that was asked of you and are prepared for it, then you have nothing to fear, but if you have not, then look out! Paul is not trying to frighten his hearers but to encourage them, so as to detach them from their love of the things of this world. It was not unlikely that at the beginning of their endeavors they would be more dedicated and slacken off as time went on. But Paul wants them to do the opposite B not to slacken as time goes on but to become even more dedicated. For the nearer the King is, the more they ought to be ready to receive Him.” [Saint John Chrysostom (ca. A.D. 391), *Homilies on the Epistle to the Romans 23
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12 the night is advanced, the day is at hand: Paul implies that not too long a time separates Christians from their end time salvation. Their life before their conversion, whether they were Jews or Gentiles, is compared to the night (the present evil age; see Gal 1:4), because they could do, or in fact did, nothing towards earning their eternal salvation. Things are now changed, the era of salvation has come with Christ, who brought salvation for all mankind. Paul speaks to them in reference to their personal judgment as well as Christ’s future return in glory (Heb 9:27, 28; 1 Pet 1:5). For “the day,” see Rev 22:5.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness: They must give up all evil habits of their past lives.
(and) put on the armor of light: To St. Paul, the Christian is a soldier of Christ. Therefore, he frequently uses military metaphors to describe the Christian virtues, which are the defensive and offensive weapons that the Christian must use. The “armor of light,” generally speaking, are the spiritual weapons which Christ has placed at our disposal, namely: prayer, self-sacrifice, the sacraments and the commandments. In fact, the “armor of light” is described in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 and Ephesians 6:13 as faith, hope, charity, fidelity, uprightness, etc. (the virtues). Instead of planning for nighttime behavior they should be concentrating on conduct that is consonant with avowed interest in the Lord’s return.
**13 let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day: **the behavior described in Romans 1:29-30 is now to be reversed. Secular moralists were fond of making references to people who could not wait for nightfall to do their carousing. Paul says that Christians claim to be people of the new day that will dawn with the return of Christ. The contrast of day and night, light and dark, is symbolic of good and evil.
**not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy: **A catalog of vices that are the “works of darkness.” Having urged them to practice the Christian virtues, he now tells them to avoid the evil practices so prevalent then in the pagan world.
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Paul does not forbid alcohol; he is opposed only to its excessive use. Nor does he prohibit sexual intercourse; rather he is against fornication. What he wants to do is to get rid of the deadly passions of lust and anger. Therefore he does not merely attack them but goes to their source as well. For nothing kindles lust or wrath so much as excessive drinking.” [Saint John Chrysostom (ca. A.D. 391), *Homilies on the Epistle to the Romans 24]
“Rivalry [or, ‘quarreling’] and jealousy” were sins fairly common among the, first Christian converts, made up as they were of Jews and Gentiles. The Jewish converts were inclined to regard themselves as superior to the Gentiles, because they had been the Chosen People of the pre-Christian era. The Gentiles reacted, perhaps not always with proper humility, to this presumption, because, Christianity had leveled all barriers. There was no longer “question of Greek or Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, slave and freeman, but Christ is all and is in all,” as St. Paul wrote to the Colossians (3: 11).
**14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh: **Let Christ be your armor. Through baptism the Christian has already “put on” Christ (Galatians 3:27), but that baptism (identification with Christ) must bear fruit in his conscious life; as he becomes progressively more and more aware of his Christian identity he withdraws more and more from sin. Instead of planning for nighttime behavior, the Christian concentrates on conduct which is consistent with their avowed interest in the Lord’s return. The unlawful desires of the flesh must be curbed (see Romans 7:4-5).
