With this chapter St. Paul begins his second part, in which he gives us most excellent lessons of morality, after which every Christian should aim to form his life, and thus resemble Jesus Christ and his saints. (Haydock) --- _That you present your bodies a living sacrifice. And how must this be don... [ Continue Reading ]
Take care, lest you imitate the practices of worldlings. Let your heart, your ambition, carry you to heaven: ever despise those things which the world admires, that every one may see by your actions that you are not of the society of worldlings, and have neither regard nor friendship for them. (Calm... [ Continue Reading ]
_To be wise unto sobriety. Not pretending to be more wise, or more knowing than you are. --- As God hath divided to every one the measure of faith. The sense by what follows is, that every one make the best use, for the glory of God, and the good of his neighbour, of the gifts and graces which he ha... [ Continue Reading ]
The apostle does not here prohibit that defence, by which a person, either by word or action, preserves himself from injury. This he could not condemn, since he had so often recourse to it himself, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles: and in the second [epistle] to Timothy, he writes: "In my firs... [ Continue Reading ]
_Communicating [2] to the necessities of the saints. Making them partakers of what you have, by relieving them. (Witham)_ [BIBLIOGRAPHY] Communicantes;_ Greek: koinonountes. Koinonein is often used by St. Paul for making others sharers by giving to them._... [ Continue Reading ]
_Condescending to the humble, in the spirit of charity and sweetness. See Luke ii. 48. (Witham)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_If it be possible,....have peace with all. That is, if it can be without prejudice to truth or justice, &c. And even when others wrong you, seek not to revenge yourself, but leave you cause to God. Do good offices even to those that do evil to you. (Witham)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Give place to wrath. That we do, says St. John Chrysostom, when we leave all to God, and endeavour to return good for evil. (Witham)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. This figurative way of speaking is differently expounded. Some say, inasmuch as by this means thou shalt make him liable to greater punishments from God. Others, as St. Jerome and St. Augustine, by coals of fire, understand kindnesses and benefits, which s... [ Continue Reading ]
This is the apostle's conclusion of the foregoing instructions. Be not overcome by the malice of thy enemy, so as to wish to revenge thyself, without leaving all to the just judgment of God; but overcome his malice by thy kindness. This is complied with, when upon occasion of injuries received we al... [ Continue Reading ]