CORINTHIANS 4:7-15: TUESDAY'S READING FOR REFLECTION
Posted by: "Manuel Tuazon" mjtuazon@pacbell.net
Date: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:00 am (PDT)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
For: Tuesday, June 25, 2006
Feast: St. James, Apostle
From: 2 Corinthians 4:7-15
The Trials He Has Experienced
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[7] But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the
transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. [8] We are afflicted
in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
[9] persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
[10] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life
of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. [11] For while we live
we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life
of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. [12] So death is at
work in us, but life in you.
He Is Sustained By Hope in Heaven
---------------------------------
[13] Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, "I
believed, and so I spoke," we too believe, and so we speak,
[14] knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with
Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. [15] For it is all for
your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may
increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
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Commentary:
7-12. In contrast to the greatness of the Gospel--the "treasure"
entrusted to them by God--St. Paul emphasizes the limitations of its
ministers: they are "earthen vessels" (v. 7). To illustrate this he
describes the afflictions and persecution to which he finds himself
subjected and in which God's grace always comes to his aid.
In some way these sufferings of the Apostles and of all Christians
reproduce in their lives the sufferings of Christ in his passion and
death. In his case his suffering opened the way to his glorification
after the Resurrection; similarly his servants, even in this life, are
experiencing an anticipation of the life they will attain in heaven;
this helps them overcome every kind of affliction.
7. St. Paul again stresses that the effectiveness of all his apostolic
activity comes from God (cf., e.g., 1 Cor 1:26-31; 2 Cor 3:5); he it is
who places his treasures in poor earthenware vessels. The image the
Apostle uses--which is reminiscent of the clay which God used to make
Adam (cf. Gen 2:7)--helps Christians realize that through grace they
bear in their souls a wonderful treasure, God himself; like earthen
vessels they are very fragile and they need to be put together again in
the sacrament of Confession. As a gloss on these ideas Monsignor
Escriva taught that Christians by bearing God in their souls are
enabled to live at one and the same time "in heaven and on earth,
divinized: but knowing that we are of the world and made of clay, with
the frailty that is typical of clay--an earthenware pot which our Lord
has deigned to use in his service. And whenever it has got broken, we
have gone and riveted the bits together again, like the prodigal son:
'I have sinned against heaven and against you...'" (quoted in Bernal,
"Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer").
8-9. The Apostle's words assure the Christian that he or she can always
count on God's help: no matter what trials they have to undergo,
victory can be attained with the grace of God as happened in St. Paul's
case. "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your
strength, but with temptation will also provide you the way of escape,
that you may be able to endure it" (1 Cor 10:13). Moreover, St. Paul's
example reminds us that more or less severe suffering and tribulation
will be a normal thing in the lives of Christ's followers; theirs will
never be a comfortable, trouble-free life. "If it is your ambition to
win the esteem of men, if your desire to be well-regarded and seek only
a life of ease, you have gone astray [...]. In the city of the saints,
entrance is given and rest and eternal rule with the King, only to
those who have made their way along the rough, narrow way of
tribulation" (Pseudo-Macarius, "Homilies", XII, 5).
10-11. As happened in St. Paul's case, in their daily lives Christians
must relive the sufferings of Christ through self-denial and penance:
this is part of following Christ and imitating him. "The Christian
vocation is one of sacrifice, penance, expiation. We must make
reparation for our sins--for the many times we turned our face aside so
as to avoid the gaze of God--and all the sins of mankind. We must try
to imitate Christ, 'always carrying in the body the death of Christ',
his abnegation, his suffering on the cross, 'so that the life of Jesus
may be manifested in our bodies' (2 Cor 4:10). Our way is one of
immolation and, in this denial, we find "gaudium cum pace", both joy
and peace" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 9).
Self-denial, mortification, does not have to be something overt; it
should be practiced in the ordinary circumstances of life--for example,
by being punctual for appointments, carefully fulfilling one's duties,
treating everyone with as much charity as possible, accepting little
setbacks in a good-humored way (cf. [St] J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 138).
10. "The death of Jesus": more exactly, the "dying" of Christ: the
Greek word refers to the situation of someone who is dying.
12. In the Apostles, and also in other Christians, the paradox of
Jesus' life is verified: his death is the cause of life for all men.
"Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains
alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (Jn 12:24). Afflictions
and tribulations, physical and moral pain, daily self-denial and
penance, cause Christ's disciple to die to himself and, if united to
the sufferings of his Master, they become a source of life for others
through the communion of saints.
13-18. The Apostle explains where he gets the strength to bear all the
tribulations of life--from his hope in the resurrection and his
expectation of being in heaven with those to whom he is writing
(v. 14). There is nothing selfish about this desire for heaven: it
helps us to stay true to the faith and it enables us to see all the
sufferings of this life as something transitory and slight (v. 17), a
necessary step to heaven and a way to obtain incomparably greater
happiness. "If we wish to enjoy the pleasures of eternity," St.
Alphonsus reminds us, "we must deprive ourselves of the pleasures of
time. 'Whoever would save his life will lose it' (Mt 16:25) [...]. If
we wish to be saved, we must all be martyrs, either by the tyrant's
sword or through our own mortification. Let us have this
conviction--that everything we suffer is nothing compared with the
eternal glory that awaits us. 'I consider the sufferings of this
present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be
revealed to us' (Rom 8:18). These momentary afflictions will bring us
eternal happiness (cf. 2 Cor 4:17)" ("Treasury of Preaching Material",
II, 9).
13. The Apostle's faith leads him to keep on preaching, despite all
the difficulties this may involve. There is nothing else he can do: he
is convinced that his faith is what can save the world and he cannot
but strive to spread it. If he acted otherwise it would mean his faith
was asleep and he did not truly love others. "When you find that
something has done you good," St. Gregory the Great explains, "try to
bring it to the attention of others. You should, therefore, desire
others to join you on the ways of the Lord. If you are going to the
forum or the baths, and you meet someone who is not doing anything, you
invite him to go along with you. Apply this earthly custom to the
spiritual sphere, and as you make your way to God, do not do so alone"
("In Evangelia Homiliae", 6, 6).
14. What inspires St. Paul's apostolic activity and enables him to bear
all the difficulties it involves, is his firm belief in resurrection in
glory, the basis and cause of which is Christ's resurrection. He also
has the hope of sharing this happiness in heaven, in the presence of
God, with all the faithful for whose salvation he is working on earth.
15. After reminding the Corinthians that all the sufferings he has been
speaking about he has borne for their sake (cf. 4:5), St. Paul tells
them what motivates him most--the greater glory of God, to whom the
faithful should turn in deep gratitude (cf. 1:11; 9:12). This should
be man's primary attitude to God--one of profound adoration and
thanksgiving for all his benefits, as we are daily reminded in the
Preface of the Mass.
"If life's purpose were not to give glory to God, how contemptible, how
hateful it would be" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 783).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter
Publishers, the U.S. publisher (see below).
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