4 November 2023

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
From Romans 11:1-2,11-12,25-29, NRSV

In today’s reading we hear more about Paul’s ongoing struggle with understanding why Israel had not accepted Christ as the Saviour. In his attempt to understand, Paul asks and answers his own question. He asks “has God rejected his people?”. His answer is that God has definitely not rejected the people he chose and whom he “foreknew”. This suggests that God, when choosing Israel, already knew that they would at times be rebellious and disobedient and yet chose them anyway and bestowed on them great gifts and promises. These gifts, as Paul states later in this chapter, were irrevocable. Even though Israel throughout their history sometimes disappointed God, the gifts and promises made to their ancestors were never revoked.

• • Why do you think God’s faithfulness to the “Chosen People” was so important to Paul?
  • Why do you think that the Church teaches that the Jewish race is “most dear to God”?

Give thanks for God’s steadfast love and reflect on how you can use your God given gifts in service to others.