Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost, September 14, 2014The Epistle: Romans 14:1-12

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,

As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.

So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Reflections: St. Paul wrote this passage in his letter to address a controversy that was dividing the members of the community in Rome. The problem with “eating meat” and “not eating meat” wasn’t about vegetarianism. Rather, the problem was that meat sold in the marketplace had been offered to gods (“idols”). Some Christians quite naturally thought it was wrong to eat meat offered to other gods, so they didn’t—and apparently they criticized those who did eat it. On the other hand, however, Other Christians understood that no other gods existed, and therefore they could eat the meat with good conscience.

The point is, Paul argues, that we should watch over our own behavior, not that of others. Jesus himself preached against judging others. But as this passage later tells us, we are only to refrain from judging others; we are equally responsible for not causing offense. In other words, the fact that something is “legal” or our “right” does not mean we should do it.