2nd Advent Sunday (year A)

(Romans 15:4-9)

Romans 15:4 Now all that was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Romans 15:5 May the God of perseverance and consolation grant you to have the same feelings towards one another as Christ Jesus had,

Romans 15:6 so that with one heart and one voice you may glorify God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ has accepted you, for the glory of God.

Paul wants Christians to know that what was written in the Old Testament serves as our instruction. When Christians learn what happened in the past, they find motivation to persevere, they are comforted in the present, and they look forward to the future with hope. The perseverance and comfort that come from Scripture are those that arise from the faith that every sacrifice we have lived, offered, and lifted up to God will not go unrewarded. This fruit ripens on our perseverance, which must be until the end.

All the sufferings of the present world are worthless in comparison to the glory that God will give us. For this reason, we must always keep alive our hope of the future glory with which we will be clothed. The strength to persevere comes from this hope, and it is necessary to keep it alive; if we lose sight of hope, then we easily fall away from faith and our soul is lost in the small and useless things of this world. Hope is kept alive by conforming our lives to Christ. Outside of this law, all that remains for the Christian is bewilderment, confusion, and abandonment of the path undertaken.

God is the God of perseverance and consolation (v. 5). He is the God of perseverance because he never tires of seeking man for his salvation. The entire Old Testament is sustained by this perseverance of God, who knows no rest. He is the God who perseveres eternally in his love for man and who gives him consolation. God's consolation is that strength that pours out upon us and urges us to persevere to the end. Without God's perseverance, man would have been without hope for a long time. Without God's consolation, no one would have the strength to persevere, to move forward. Without God's consolation, we would have a Christianity of sadness and despair.

Paul raises this prayer to God and asks him to pour out on the Romans and on every other believer, that they may have the same feelings towards one another, following the example of Christ Jesus. Christ is the model that Christians must always be inspired by. Christ is the example to imitate. Christ is the hermeneutical principle of the life of each of his disciples. If Christians are the fruit of God's persevering love, they too must persevere in love for their neighbour. Since Christians have the strength to move forward because the Lord pours out his consolation on their path, Christians too must become instruments of consolation for their brothers and sisters. They must exhort, help and encourage. True communion does not arise from the presumption of a justice due to us, but from the awareness of a guilt that includes everyone, and of a grace that is simply a gift. We think well of our brothers and sisters not because we believe in their goodness, but because we believe in the One who makes us good. It is the awareness of sin and the awareness of grace that gives foundation and stability to fraternal love.

As Christ has welcomed us, so we must welcome one another. Christ welcomed us all when we had nothing but our need for salvation. Christ welcomed us by taking on our flesh and blood, taking upon himself our infirmities, our illnesses, our sins. He welcomed us by loving us to the end. Christ still welcomes us by exercising his eternal priesthood, interceding for us so that we may always find grace with God and be saved and redeemed by him.

Christ did everything for the glory of God. Christians too must welcome their brothers and sisters for the glory of God. God wants each of us to love our brothers and sisters as Jesus Christ loved them. If Christians observe this commandment, great glory rises to God. Christians must be singers of God's glory. They must ensure that the whole world glorifies the heavenly Father for their love towards their brothers and sisters.

We know well that only Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Father's will. By meditating on Christ and examining his life, Christians too can prepare themselves to give glory to the Father, which is the purpose of their lives.

Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books

- Apocalypse – exegetical commentary

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

Catholics and Protestants in comparison – In defence of the faith

The Church and Israel according to St Paul – Romans 9-11

(Available on Amazon)

133 Last modified on Tuesday, 02 December 2025 04:38

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Argentino Quintavalle

Argentino Quintavalle è studioso biblico ed esperto in Protestantesimo e Giudaismo. Autore del libro “Apocalisse - commento esegetico” (disponibile su Amazon) e specializzato in catechesi per protestanti che desiderano tornare nella Chiesa Cattolica.

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«The "blasphemy" [in question] does not really consist in offending the Holy Spirit with words; it consists, instead, in the refusal to accept the salvation that God offers to man through the Holy Spirit, and which works by virtue of the sacrifice of the cross [It] does not allow man to get out of his self-imprisonment and to open himself to the divine sources of purification» (John Paul II, General Audience July 25, 1990)

«La “bestemmia” [di cui si tratta] non consiste propriamente nell’offendere con le parole lo Spirito Santo; consiste, invece, nel rifiuto di accettare la salvezza che Dio offre all’uomo mediante lo Spirito Santo, e che opera in virtù del sacrificio della croce [Esso] non permette all’uomo di uscire dalla sua autoprigionia e di aprirsi alle fonti divine della purificazione» (Giovanni Paolo II, Udienza Generale 25 luglio 1990)

Seen from the capital Jerusalem, that land is geographically peripheral and religiously impure because it was full of pagans, having mixed with those who did not belong to Israel. Great things were not expected from Galilee for the history of salvation. Instead, right from there — precisely from there — radiated that “light” on which we meditated in recent Sundays: the light of Christ. It radiated right from the periphery (Pope Francis)

Vista dalla capitale Gerusalemme, quella terra è geograficamente periferica e religiosamente impura perché era piena di pagani, per la mescolanza con quanti non appartenevano a Israele. Dalla Galilea non si attendevano certo grandi cose per la storia della salvezza. Invece proprio da lì - proprio da lì - si diffonde quella “luce” sulla quale abbiamo meditato nelle scorse domeniche: la luce di Cristo. Si diffonde proprio dalla periferia (Papa Francesco)

Christ and his intimates tried to strengthen the sense of sharing, returning to the profound spirit of what once the clan, the family, the community were - expressions of God's love that manifests itself...

Cristo e i suoi intimi tentavano di rafforzare il senso di condivisione, tornando allo spirito profondo di ciò che un tempo erano appunto il clan, la famiglia, la comunità - espressioni dell’amore di Dio che si manifesta…

The Church was built on the foundation of the Apostles as a community of faith, hope and charity. Through the Apostles, we come to Jesus himself. Therefore, a slogan that was popular some years back: "Jesus yes, Church no", is totally inconceivable with the intention of Christ (Pope Benedict)

La Chiesa è stata costituita sul fondamento degli Apostoli come comunità di fede, di speranza e di carità. Attraverso gli Apostoli, risaliamo a Gesù stesso. È pertanto del tutto inconciliabile con l'intenzione di Cristo uno slogan di moda alcuni anni fa: "Gesù sì, Chiesa no" (Papa Benedetto)

Intimidated by the nightmare of demons and concrete dangers, the crowds could not see the possibility of emancipation from an existence of obsessions - slavish, frightened, lost, overwhelmed...

Intimidite dall’incubo di demoni e pericoli concreti, le folle non riuscivano a vedere possibilità di emancipazione da un’esistenza di ossessioni - pedissequa, spaventata, smarrita, sopraffatta…

Justification incorporates us into the long history of salvation that demonstrates God’s justice: faced with our continual falls and inadequacies, he did not give up, but wanted to make us righteous (Pope Francis)

La giustificazione ci inserisce nella lunga storia della salvezza, che mostra la giustizia di Dio: di fronte alle nostre continue cadute e alle nostre insufficienze, Egli non si è rassegnato, ma ha voluto renderci giusti (Papa Francesco)

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