From: 2 Corinthians 1:1-7
Greeting
[2] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
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Commentary:
1-11. As in almost all his letters St Paul begins with a greeting (vv. 1-2) and an
act of thanksgiving to God (vv. 3-11). See the note on 1 Cor 1:2-9.
St Paul introduces himself in his usual way—”an apostle of Christ Jesus by the
will of God”—but his description takes on special significance in this instance,
because he will devote a substantial part of the letter to defend his calling as
apostle against people who, apparently, have been questioning his credentials
(cf. chaps. 10-13).
Timothy was well known to the Corinthians: he had worked with Paul in the early
stages of Gospel preaching in Corinth (cf. Acts 18:5) and had visited them on
another occasion as the Apostle’s envoy (cf. 1 Cor 4:17;16-10).
1-2. The Romans had divided Greece into two provinces—Macedonia in the north
and Achaia—(comprising central Greece and the Pelloponnese peninsula) in the
north. Corinth was the capital of Achaia. Although St Paul had actually preached
only in Corinth and Athens, the fact that he is addressing Christians “in the
whole of Achaia” says much for the apostolic zeal of those first converts, who
had brought the seed of the Gospel to other parts of the region.
St Paul’s description of the Christians as “saints” shows that the Christian voca-
tion involves a calling to strive hard for holiness (cf. “Lumen Gentium”, 10).
“Grace and peace”: “Grace is the first good, because it is the source of all good
things [...]. The last of all good things is peace, because it is the general goal of
the mind. For, whichever way this word ‘peace’ is used, it is in the sense of a
goal or end; in eternal glory, in government and in one’s manner of living, peace
has the sense of ‘end’” (St Thomas Aquinas, “Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.”).
3-11. St Paul’s act of thanksgiving here is rather different from that in other let-
ters, where he gives thanks to God for the favors enjoyed by the Christians to
whom he is writing, in order to make them more appreciative of their calling.
Here he thanks God for consoling him in his distress.
3. “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’: the Greek can be interpreted in two
ways — a) God [the Father] who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; b) God
[the Father] who is the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second
version, which is more likely the correct one, may seem odd at first sight: how-
ever, any difficulty disappears if one bears in mind that Jesus himself in the Gos-
pel calls the Father “my God”: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to
my God and your God” (Jn 20:17). If one remembers that there are two natures
in Christ — the divine and the human — the expression “the God of our Lord Je-
sus Christ” is referring to Jesus as man; whereas “the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ” refers to Jesus’ sonship both as God (the eternal sonship of the Word)
and as man (his conception in time in the pure womb of the Blessed Virgin, by
the action of the Holy Spirit, without the intervention of man).
“The Father of mercies”: a Hebraicism, often used in the Old Testament, to refer
to God who has “bowels of mercy”.
Mercy, according to St Augustine, is “a certain compassion for another’s wret-
chedness that arises in our heart, whereby we feel impelled to give him every
possible help” (”De Civitate Dei”, IX, 5). And so, St Thomas explains, mercy
is something proper only to God: “Mercy is accounted as being proper to God
therein his omnipotence is revealed to the highest degree” (”Summa Theologiae”,
II-II, q. 30, a. 4), for it is capable of relieving every kind of wretchedness.
God’s mercy consoles the Apostle in his sufferings, thereby enabling him to con-
sole others. It is this merciful God that is revealed to us by Jesus Christ: “The
truth, revealed in Christ, about God the ‘Father of mercies’ (2 Cor 1:3) enables us
to see him as particularly close to man, especially when man is suffering, when
he is under threat at the very heart of his existence and dignity” (John Paul II,
“Dives In Misercordia”, 2).
5-11. These verses show the deep solidarity that exists among the members of
Christ’s mystical body, and between them and their head.
This mutual union and interaction in the members of the Church is what enables
them to share spiritual benefits with one another—the communion of saints; and
it flows between the three parts of the Church—the Church militant or pilgrim (on
earth), the Church suffering (in Purgatory), and the Church triumphant (in heaven);
it is what permits those in one part, for example, to help the others by prayer (cf.
v. 11): “This is truly a tremendous mystery, upon which we can never meditate
enough—that the salvation of many souls depends on the prayers and voluntary
mortifications offered for that intention by the members of the mystical body of
Jesus Christ” (Pius XII, “Mystici Corporis”). Conscious of this fact, the Christian
should offer many prayers, sacrifices and actions for the whole Church—for the
Pope, for bishops and priests, and for all the faithful, especially those most in
need.
6. “Your comfort and salvation: the term “salvation” also includes spiritual health,
which culminates in eternal salvation. Our desire for spiritual health, our hope of
salvation, gives us the patience or fortitude we need for the battles of this life;
and this patience leads to salvation.
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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: Matthew 5:1-12
The Beatitudes
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Commentary:
1. The Discourse, or Sermon, on the Mount takes up three full chapters of St.
Matthew’s Gospel — Chapters 5-7. It is the first of the five great discourses of Je-
sus which appear in this Gospel and it contains a considerable amount of our
Lord’s teaching.
It is difficult to reduce this discourse to one single theme, but the various tea-
chings it contains could be said to deal with these five points: 1) the attitude a
person must have for entering the Kingdom of Heaven (the Beatitudes, the salt
of the earth, the light of the world, Jesus and His teaching, the fullness of the
Law); 2) uprightness of intention in religious practice (here the “Our Father”
would be included); 3) trust in God’s fatherly providence; 4) how God’s children
should behave towards one another (not judging one’s neighbor, respect for ho-
ly things, the effectiveness of prayer, and the golden rule of charity); 5) the con-
ditions for entering the Kingdom (the narrow gate, false prophets and building
on rock).
“He taught them”: this refers both to the disciples and to the multitude, as can
be seen at the end of the Sermon (Matthew 7:28).
2. The Beatitudes (5:3-12) form, as it were, the gateway to the Sermon on the
Mount. In order to understand the Beatitudes properly, we should bear in mind
that they do not promise salvation only to the particular kinds of people listed
here: they cover everyone whose religious dispositions and moral conduct meet
the demands which Jesus lays down. In other words, the poor in spirit, the meek,
those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful,
the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who suffer persecution in their
search for holiness—these are not different people or kinds of people but diffe-
rent demands made on everyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ.
Similarly, salvation is not being promised to different groups in society but to
everyone, no matter what his or her position in life, who strives to follow the spi-
rit and to meet the demands contained in the Beatitudes.
All the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us de-
finitive salvation not in this world, but in the next. But the spirit of the Beatitudes
does give us, in this life, peace in the midst of tribulation. The Beatitudes imply
a completely new approach, quite at odds with the usual way man evaluates
things: they rule out any kind of pharisaical religiosity, which regards earthly hap-
piness as a blessing from God and a reward for good behavior, and unhappiness
and misfortune as a form of punishment. In all ages the Beatitudes put spiritual
goods on a much higher plane than material possessions. The healthy and the
sick, the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor—all are called, indepen-
dently of their circumstances, to the deep happiness that is experienced by
those who live up to the Beatitudes which Jesus teaches.
The Beatitudes do not, of course, contain the entire teaching of the Gospel, but
they do contain, in embryo, the whole program of Christian perfection.
3. This text outlines the connection between poverty and the soul. This religious
concept of poverty was deeply rooted in the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Zephaniah
2:3ff). It was more to do with a religious attitude of neediness and of humility to-
wards God than with material poverty: that person is poor who has recourse to
God without relying on his own merits and who trusts in God’s mercy to be
saved. This religious attitude of poverty is closely related to what is called “spiri-
tual childhood”. A Christian sees himself as a little child in the presence of God,
a child who owns nothing: everything he has comes from God and belongs to
God. Certainly, spiritual poverty, that is, Christian poverty, means one must be
detached from material things and practice austerity in using them. God asks
certain people — religious — to be legally detached from ownership and thereby
bear witness to others of the transitoriness of earthly things.
4. “Those who mourn”: here our Lord is saying that those are blessed who suf-
fer from any kind of affliction — particularly those who are genuinely sorry for their
sins, or are pained by the offenses which others offer God, and who bear their
suffering with love and in a spirit of atonement.
“You are crying? Don’t be ashamed of it. Yes, cry: men also cry like you, when
they are alone and before God. Each night, says King David, I soak my bed with
tears. With those tears, those burning manly tears, you can purify your past and
supernaturalize your present life” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 216).
The Spirit of God will console with peace and joy, even in this life, those who
weep for their sins, and later will give them a share in the fullness of happiness
and glory in Heaven: these are the blessed.
5. “The meek”: those who patiently suffer unjust persecution; those who remain
serene, humble and steadfast in adversity, and do not give way to resentment or
discouragement. The virtue of meekness is very necessary in the Christian life.
Usually irritableness, which is very common, stems from a lack of humility and
interior peace.
“The earth”: this is usually understood as meaning our Heavenly Fatherland.
6. The notion of righteousness (or justice) in Holy Scripture is an essentially reli-
gious one (cf. notes on Matthew 1:19 and 3:15; Romans 1:17; 1:18-32; 3:21-22
and 24). A righteous person is one who sincerely strives to do the Will of God,
which is discovered in the commandments, in one’s duties of state in life (social,
professional and family responsibilities) and through one’s life of prayer. Thus,
righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is the same as what nowadays is
usually called “holiness” (1 John 2:29; 3:7-10; Revelation 22:11; Genesis 15:6;
Deuteronomy 9:4).
As St. Jerome comments (”Comm. on Matthew”, 5, 6), in the fourth Beatitude
our Lord is asking us not simply to have a vague desire for righteousness: we
should hunger and thirst for it, that is, we should love and strive earnestly to seek
what makes a man righteous in God’s eyes. A person who genuinely wants to at-
tain Christian holiness should love the means which the Church, the universal ve-
hicle of salvation, offers all men and teaches them to use—frequent use of the Sa-
craments, an intimate relationship with God in prayer, a valiant effort to meet
one’s social, professional and family responsibilities.
7. Mercy is not a just a matter of giving alms to the poor but also of being under-
standing towards other people’s defects, overlooking them, helping them cope
with them and loving them despite whatever defects they may have. Being mer-
ciful also means rejoicing and suffering with other people.
8. Christ teaches us that the source of the quality of human acts lies in the heart,
that is, in a man’s soul, in the depths of his spirit. “When we speak of a person’s
heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person in his loving
dealings with others. In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses
the expression ‘heart’ in its full human meaning, as the summary and source,
expression and ultimate basis, of one’s thoughts, words and actions. A man is
worth what his heart is worth” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 164).
Cleanness of heart is a gift of God, which expresses itself in a capacity to love,
in having an upright and pure attitude to everything noble. As St. Paul says,
“whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, what-
ever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything
worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). Helped by God’s
grace, a Christian should constantly strive to cleanse his heart and acquire this
purity, whose reward is the vision of God.
9. The translation “peacemakers” well convey the active meaning of the original
text — those who foster peace, in themselves and in others and, as a basis for
that, try to be reconciled and to reconcile others with God. Being at peace with
God is the cause and effect of every kind of peace. Any peace on earth not
based on this divine peace would be vain and misleading.
“They shall be called sons of God”: this is an Hebraicism often found in Sacred
Scripture; it is the same as saying “they will be sons of God”. St. John’s first let-
ter (3:1) provides a correct exegesis of this Beatitude: “See what love the Father
has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are”.
10. What this Beatitude means, then, is: blessed are those who are persecuted
because they are holy, or because they are striving to be holy, for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven.
Thus, blessed is he who suffers persecution for being true to Jesus Christ and
who does so not only patiently but joyfully. Circumstances arise in a Christian’s
life that call for heroism—where no compromise is admissible: either one stays
true to Jesus Christ whatever the cost in terms of reputation, life or possessions,
or one denies Him. St. Bernard (”Sermon on the Feast of All Saints”) says that
the eighth Beatitude is as it were the prerogative of Christian martyrs. Every
Christian who is faithful to Jesus’ teaching is in fact a “martyr” (a witness) who
reflects or acts according with this Beatitude, even if he does not undergo phy-
sical death.
11-12. The Beatitudes are the conditions Jesus lays down for entering the King-
dom of Heaven. This verse, in a way summing up the preceding ones, is an invi-
tation to everyone to put this teaching into practice. The Christian life, then, is
no easy matter, but it is worthwhile, given the reward that Jesus promises.
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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.