More Than Conquerors

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, August 2nd, 2026:
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Romans
8.35, 37-39

Brothers and sisters: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Nobody likes to lose. Given our druthers, we’d all prefer to win, but most of us aren’t driven to win at absolutely everything. We can be choosy. For example, I don’t particularly care about beating anyone at bucket golf, but challenge me for the high score in sudoku and I'm gonna snap your pencils. Why? Because being skilled in logic games is important to me.

In the Second Reading for this Sunday, Saint Paul is on about something that is important to Christians: freedom from evil. None of us wants to be overcome by fear, crippled by addictions, brought down by anxiety. We want to be alive and free from evil. So, on those days when the world begins to grind us down, we need someone like Coach Paul the Apostle to build us up: 

“Alright, Christians, we got this! We’re gonna go out there today, fully clothed in the armour of Christ’s love. I said it to the Ephesians and I’ll say it to you: when evil comes bearing down on you, stand firm. With the belt of truth around your waist, the breastplate of righteousness guarding your heart, your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, and the shield of faith in your hand, you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Be alert and never stop praying.

“Now, let me hear you! Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” “No one!”
“Will hardship separate us from the love of Christ?” “No!”
“Will persecution separate us from the love of Christ?” “No!”
“How about peril — will peril separate us from the love of Christ?” “No!”
“And why won’t peril separate us from the love of Christ?” “Because we are more than conquerors!”

This must be our rallying cry against darkness of every kind every day: we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, for the God who loves us is always with us. We are never alone. Even when we feel alone and the light becomes night around us, the darkness will not be dark to God; the night will shine as the day (Psalm 139:11-12). Therefore, “neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation [including our times of deepest darkness] will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

God’s presence in our lives is never about us and what we do, whether it be good or bad. God’s presence in our lives is about God’s promise to never let us be separated from the love that strengthens us, a love that makes us more than conquerors.




​Donna Davis 

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