From: Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Only the Sufferer Can Know His Own Grief (Continuation)
[7] “Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good.”
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Commentary:
7:1-2. Well aware that his particular case is by no means unique, Job applies
general statements (vv. 1-2) to his own predicament (3:10). The references to
military service (cf. 14:14) and the position of a hireling graphically describe the
limitations man labors under his whole life long. They are in line with biblical tea-
ching about the plight of the world resulting from original sin and personal sins.
This dramatic situation “makes man’s life a battle: ‘The whole of man’s history
has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our
Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in
the midst of the battlefield, man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at
great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in achieving
his own inner integrity’ (”Gaudium Et Spes”, 37)” (”Catechism of the Catholic
Church”, 409).
No one can escape this struggle. However, as we know from experience, not
everyone strives in the same way.“Man’s life on earth is warfare, and his days
are spent under the burden of work. No one escapes this law, not even the ea-
sygoing who try to turn a deaf ear to it. They desert the ranks of Christ, and
then take up other battles to satisfy their laziness, their vanity, or their petty
ambitions. They become enslaved to their every whim. Since to be in a state
of struggle is part and parcel of the human condition, let us try to fulfill our obli-
gations with determination. Let us pray and work with good will, with upright
motives and with our sights set on what God wants. This way our longing for
Love will be satisfied and we shall progress along the path to sanctity, even if
we find at the end of the day that we still have a long way to go” (St J. Escriva,
“Friends of God”, 217).
7:7-10. In a supplication which begins formally with the word “Remember”, Job
argues that if death marks the end for him, then his suffering makes no sense;
we can see that he is still very much taken up with the idea that death is a sort
of goal and that it means the end of all the anguish of life (cf. 3:11-19; 10:20-22;
14:1-22). This approach belongs to a time when the doctrine of the resurrection
of the dead was as yet unclear. However, what Job says should not be taken as
implying that there is no future life; it simply shows that he is so overwhelmed
that he desires his suffering to cease as soon as possible. “Job spoke these
words to register the fact that life is a very fragile thing—and, especially, to make
the point that a person who dies never returns to this life of corruptibility and ne-
ver again will pick up his ordinary life where he left off’ (Didymus the Blind, “In
Iob”, “ad loc.”).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22b-23
St Paul Does Not Exercise This Right
[19] For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I
might win the more. [22b] I have become all things to all men, that I might by all
means save some. [23] I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in
its blessings.
The Need for Asceticism
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Commentary:
15-18. As he already said in v. 12, St Paul makes it clear that he has not exer-
cised so far, nor does he envisage doing so, his right to be supported by the
faithful. Conscious that his God-given calling obliges him to preach the Gospel,
he prefers to carry out that mission without receiving anything in exchange. His
attitude shows both his greatness and his humility: he faces every kind of suf-
fering, privation and danger for the sake of the Gospel (cf. 2 Cor 11:23-33), and
yet he considers that he is doing no more than his duty. His policy recalls our
Lord’s teaching: “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are
unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty”’ (Lk 17:10; cf. Mt 10:
8).
To keep to this self-imposed policy, St Paul had to add to all his work of evan-
gelization the additional effort to earn his own living. In the Acts of the Apostles,
for example, we learn of his manual work in Corinth (18:3) and Ephesus (20:34);
and he himself tells the Thessalonians that “we worked night and day, that we
would not burden any of you, while we preached to you the gospel of God” (1
Thess 2:9; 2 Thess 3:9). Only in the case of the Philippians for whom he had
very particular affection, did he allow any exception to this rule (cf. Phil 4:15-16).
However, at no time did he feel that others were doing wrong in acting differently,
“for the Lord had disposed that those who proclaim the Gospel be supported by
it [...]. But he [Paul] went further and chose not even to take what was his due”
(St Augustine, “Sermon” 46, 4).
16. The Church has often used these words of St Paul to remind the faithful that
our Lord has called them to the apostolate through the sacraments of Baptism
and Confirmation. The Second Vatican Council explains what this apostolate in-
volves: “The witness of life, however, is not the sole element in the apostolate;
the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word,
either to unbelievers to draw them towards the faith, or to the faithful to instruct
them, strengthen them, incite them to a more fervent life; ‘for Christ’s love urges
us on’ (2 Cor 5:14), and in the hearts of all should the Apostle’s words find echo:
‘Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel’ (1 Cor 9:16)” (”Apostolicam Actuosi-
tatem”, 6).
St John Chrysostom anticipates the kinds of excuse people might offer to avoid
this duty: “There is nothing colder than a Christian who is not concerned about
the salvation of others [...]. Do not say, I cannot help others: for, if you are truly
a Christian it is impossible not to. Natural objects have properties that cannot be
denied; the same is true of what I have just said, because it is the nature of a
Christian to act in that way. Do not offend God by deception. If you said that the
sun cannot shine, you would be committing an offense against God and making
a liar of him. It is easier for the sinner to shine or give warmth than for a Christian
to cease to give light: it is easier for that to happen than for light to become dark-
ness. Do not say that that is impossible: what is impossible is the contrary [...].
If we behave in the correct way, everything else will follow as a natural conse-
quence. The light of Christians cannot be hidden, a lamp shining so brightly can-
not be hidden” (”Hom. on Acts”, 20).
19-23. Because he is one with Christ (cf. Gal 2:20), who “came not to be served
but to serve, and to give us his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28), the Apostle
makes himself “all things to all men”, so generous is he and so eager to save as
many souls as possible, at the cost of whatever sacrifice and humiliation might
be involved. “A Christian has to be ready to share his life with everyone at all
times, giving to everyone the chance to come nearer to Christ Jesus. He has to
sacrifice his own desires willingly for the sake of others, without separating peo-
ple into watertight compartments, without pigeonholing them or putting tags on
them as though they were merchandise or insect specimens. A Christian cannot
afford to separate himself from others, because, if he did that, his life would be
miserably selfish. He must become ‘all things to all men, in order to save all men’
(1 Cor 9:22)” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 124).
Obviously this concern for others should not lead to diluting the truths of faith.
Referring to this point, Pope Paul VI wrote: “The apostle’s art is a risky one. The
desire to come together as brothers must not lead to a watering down or subtrac-
ting from the truth. Our dialogue must not weaken our attachment to our faith. In
our apostolate we cannot make vague compromises about the principles of faith
and action on which our profession of Christianity is based. An immoderate de-
sire to make peace and sink differences at all costs is, fundamentally, a kind of
skepticism about the power and content of the Word of God which we desire to
preach. Only one who is completely faithful to the teaching of Christ can be an
apostle. And only he who lives his Christian life to the full can remain uncontami-
nated by the errors with which he comes into contact” (”Ecclesiam Suam”, 33).
24-27. These similes taken from athletics would have been appropriate for the
Corinthians, for their city hosted the biennial Isthmus games. Often, when spea-
king about the Christian life, the Apostle uses metaphors taken from sport-races
(cf. Gal 5:7; Phil 3:12-14; 2 Tim 4:7), combats (1 Tim 6:12; 2 Tim 4:7) and laurel
crowns (2 Tim 4:8).
A Christian’s life on earth must needs involve interior striving; he should approach
this with in a competitive, sportive spirit, facing up to any sacrifices that prove ne-
cessary, and not letting obstacles, failures or personal limitation get him down:
“We should not be surprised to find, in our body and soul, the needle of pride,
sensuality, envy, laziness and the desire to dominate others. This is a fact of life,
proven by our personal experience. It is the point of departure and the normal con-
text for winning in this intimate sport, this race toward our Father’s house. St Paul
says: “I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel
my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disquali-
fied’ (1 Cor 9:26) [...]. In this adventure of love we should not be depressed by our
falls, not even by serious falls, if we go to God in the sacrament of Penance con-
trite and resolved to improve. A Christian is not a neurotic collector of good beha-
vior reports. Jesus Christ our Lord was moved as much by Peter’s repentance af-
ter his fall as by John’s innocence and faithfulness. Jesus understands our weak-
ness and draws us to himself on an inclined plane. He wants us to make an ef-
fort to climb a little each day” (”Christ Is Passing By”, 75).
27. While we are in this present life, our perseverance can never be taken for
granted: “Let no one feel assured of this gift with an absolute certainty, although
all ought to have most secure hope in the help of God. For unless we are unfaith-
ful to his grace, God will bring the good work to perfection, just as he began it,
working both the will, and the performance (cf. Phil 2:13)” (Council of Trent, “De
Iustificatione”, chap. 13). Therefore, the Apostle points out, the ascetical effort
which every person must keep on making in this life includes physical mortifica-
tion and self-control. Helped by God’s grace and confident of his mercy, a Chris-
tian who makes this effort will be able to say as St Paul did at the end of his life,
“there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous
judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Tim 4:8).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.