Written and reported by Don Curzio Nitoglia
Introduction
This is not a Rosenberg phrase, neither Hitler nor Goebbels, but it was written by Saint Paul (1a Tess., II, 15-16) and therefore it is divinely revealed, inspired and unfailingly true.
The text of S. Paolo
The whole sentence, in two verses, it sounds like this: "Which [Jews] they even put the Lord Jesus to death [“They killed the Lord Jesus”] and the Prophets and they persecuted us too; they do not please God [“Deo non place”] and they are enemies of all men [“they are opposed to all men”], preventing us from preaching to the Pagans so that they can be saved. In this way they fill the measure of their sins! But now the wrath of God has reached its peak on their heads [“for the wrath of God came upon them to the end”]”.
The Commentary of St. Tommaso d’Aquino
Let's see the comment made by S. Tommaso d’Aquino: «It doesn't matter if the Romans killed him, because it was the Jews themselves who with their cries asked Pilate to crucify him. […]. Then the Apostle speaks of the Prophets of the Old Testament about whom it is also written in Acts of the Apostles (VII, 52): “Which of the Prophets did your fathers not persecute?? They killed those who foretold the coming of Christ, of whom you have now become traitors and murderers [“traitors and murderers”]”. Therefore they do not please God [“Deo non place”] because they do not operate with a right faith and "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Ebr., XI, 6). Infine S. Paul shows that the Jews “are enemies of all men [“they are opposed to all men”]”. In fact they are enemies because they forbid and prevent us Apostles of the New Testament from preaching to all men and thus hinder their conversion. […]. So they live until they reach the point where God allows. Indeed God, after the passion of Christ, granted the Jews a space of 40 years for penance, but not only did they not convert, but they added sin to sin. And God no longer tolerated it. […]. However, do not think that this divine wrath will last forever 100 years, but it will last “until the end” of the world [“until the end” mundi], when all the Pagans have embraced faith in Christ" (Thomas Aquinas, Exposition and reading on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle. A Lecture on the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, Reading II, caput 2, verses 15-16).
Settimio Cipriani's Commentary
«Observe the dark picture that S. Paul makes his compatriots, violent and murderous. He beautifully portrays their racist spirit that is not entirely extinct even today. However, God's anger has reached its peak and will not take long to explode. In fact the First Epistle to the Thessalonians was written around 50 d. C. and the destruction of Jerusalem would occur within 20 years, In the 70. But the condemnation of the Israelite nation does not exclude the salvation of individual Jews who believe in the Gospel (cfr. Rom., IX, 11)» (S. Cipriani, The Letters of Saint Paul, Assisi, Cittadella Publishing, V edition, 1965, p. 68, note 14-16).
Father Marco Sales' Commentary
«The perfidious conduct of the Jews [in Thessalonica, ndr] brings to mind S. Paul their great crimes, and therefore he makes it his duty to remember them. They killed the Lord Jesus: the Romans were but weak instruments in the hands of the Jews, on whom consequently falls the main responsibility for the death of Jesus. And Prophets: the Lord also accused the Jews of this crime (cfr. Mt., XXIII, 3-37; Atti, VII, 52). They persecuted us: Apostles of Jesus Christ, raising obstacles everywhere so that we could not preach. They chased us away: that is, they expelled us through persecution from the places where we had gone to preach. Stained with so many misdeeds, the Jews are no longer the chosen people and have ceased to please God. They are enemies of all men: because they would like everyone to, they alone excepted, were excluded from messianic health, and therefore they hate others and are hated in turn. prohibiting: they show their hatred against everyone by opposing with every means our preaching the Gospel to the Pagans. They fill up etc:By behaving like this they add blame to blame, and to increasingly fill the measure of their sins, that is, their malice, and to attract the wrath of God. The word so that they are saved: they indicate the happy outcome that that preaching must obtain, which the Jews are trying to prevent. To fill: By behaving like this the Jews are adding guilt to guilt, and to increasingly fill the measure of their sins, that is, their malice, and to attract the wrath of God. S. Paolo finally adds for the wrath of God has come upon them: he announces as having happened what will certainly happen, reporting like the Prophets to the time to come. Until the end: God's wrath against the Jews has reached its limit, the punishment is about to begin. Most commentators believe that S. Paul prophetically speaks here of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70. Other authors, However, they think that S. Paul deals only with the hardening and obstinacy of the Jews, therefore they were excluded as a people from the Messianic Kingdom and the New Covenant, so as not to be readmitted until the fullness of the Gentiles has entered (cfr.Rom., XI, 25 “and then all Israel will be saved”)» (M. Sales, The Letters of the Apostles,Proceno of Viterbo, Effedieffe, II ed., 2016, p. 423, note 15-16).
Conclusion
Israel had been chosen as a favorite people to make the true Triune God and the Incarnate Word known to the whole world, but already in the Old Testament they showed themselves to be a "stiff-necked" people, persecuting the Prophets who announced the coming Christ.
In the New Testament Israel condemned Jesus himself to death and then persisted in his hatred and blindness against his Apostles. Dio, noting the hardening without regret of Israel, he then broke his Alliance with him. “God will not forsake him unless he is first forsaken” God abandons only after being abandoned. The place of Israel was taken by the Pagans who converted to Christ. This state of affairs has continued for years 2000 years. Israel still hates Jesus, but before the end of the world"All Israel will be saved” (Rom., XI, 25).
d. Curzio Nitoglia
