Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. 11 Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute [you], bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If possible, on your part, live at peace with all. 19 Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 Rather, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” 21 Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.
Paul offers guidance to the believers in Rome on how to live in unity as members of the Body of Christ. He encourages the community to provide Christian witness to others as they grow in virtue. They must embrace good and resist evil. The community must act with genuine love towards each other as well as towards their enemies.
Members of the community are members of the family of faith (Mk. 3:31-35) and should have genuine brotherly love for each other that is free of hypocrisy or ulterior motives. They should avoid competing against and being envious of each other and not puff up themselves. They must hate evil and desire goodness. Love should be reciprocal within the Christian community and believers should think more highly of others than they think of themselves. They must be inflamed by the Holy Spirit to remain fervent in their devotion and service to God, to be joyful in hope, to endure affliction, and to persevere in prayer which is needed to discern God’s will (Jas. 5:7). Christians should not be haughty or arrogant but respect each other, associate with each other, help those in need, and display hospitality, a virtue highly valued in the early Christian community (Heb. 13:2).
Concerning unfriendly neighbors who hate or oppress the community, Paul encourages the faithful to pursue only the good and neither desire revenge nor actively seek revenge but leave retribution to God who repays all according to their deeds (Deut. 32:35; Ben Sira 35:24). They are to respond to persecution with blessings instead of curses (Mt. 5:44) and love instead of hate because that bears greater witness to their persecutors (Prov. 25:21-22). They are to try to live in peace with everyone.
Almighty God, fill our hearts with genuine Christian love so that we may hate evil and pursue only what is good. Strengthen us so that we may bear wrongdoing with patient endurance, and enable us to extend hospitality to others and support those in need. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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