Today’s reading would be in a top ten for most Protestants. We Catholics honor it too. Would you think of it as a good one for Easter?
The word is near you,
on your lips
and in your heart
(that is, the word of faith
which we preach).
For if you confess with your lips
that Jesus is Lord,
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
Faith in the heart leads to justification,
confession on the lips to salvation.
Paul’s struggle with the people of his Jewish heritage he has left behind are on display in the middle chapters (9-11) of Romans. How difficult it must have been for Jewish followers of Jesus to adapt: diet, prayer, sacrifices, and the connections with loved ones and friends who may have been left behind or who may have rejected them.
In this Monday morning passage, the apostle makes the switch seem so simple: confess Christ and believe. Many working folk and students need simple at the start of the week, right? I think this falls in the category of simple, but for some, not easy.
Catholic Sensibility 