Reading for the Day: Jesus is Lord

The more I read the mass readings for the day, the more I appreciate that writers write for particular audiences. I guess this is obviously true for St. Paul's epistles which were pastoral letters to address particular concerns of particular communities. It isn't quite as obvious for the Gospels but all the talk about eschatology shows that even the Gospel writers sought to address concerns of their time.

I found this footnote to today's First Reading from St. Paul's letter to the Romans:  

"To confess Jesus as Lord was frequently quite hazardous in the first century . For a Jew it could mean disruption of normal familial and other social relationships, including great economic sacrifice. In the face of penalties imposed by the secular world, Christians are assured that no one who believes in Jesus will be put to shame (Rom 10:11)". From: http://www.usccb.org/bible/scripture.cfm?bk=Romans&ch=10&v=53010009


Today it is quite fashionable to proclaim that Jesus is Lord and to praise God publicly. But during Paul's time, doing so had consequences.