From: Ephesians 1:17-23
Thanksgiving. The Supremacy of Christ (Continuation)
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Commentary:
17. The God whom St Paul addresses is “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ”, that
is, the God who has revealed himself through Christ and to whom Jesus himself,
as man, prays and asks for help (cf. Lk 22:42). The same God as was described
in the Old Testament as “the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob” is now de-
fined as “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ”. He is the personal God recognized
by his relationship with Christ, his Son, who as mediator of the New Covenant ob-
tains from God the Father everything he asks for. This will be our own experience
too if we are united to Christ, for he promised that “if you ask anything of the
Father, he will give it to you in my name” (Jn 16:23; 15:16).
The founder of Opus Dei reminds us that “Jesus is the way, the mediator. In him
are all things; outside of him is nothing. In Christ, taught by him, we dare to call
Almighty God ‘our Father’: he who created heaven and earth is a loving Father”
(”Christ Is Passing By”, 91).
The Apostle also calls God “the Father of glory”. The glory of God means his
greatness, his power, the infinite richness of his personality, which when it is re-
vealed inspires man with awe. Already, in the history of Israel, God revealed him-
self through his saving actions in favor of his people. Asking God to glorify his
name is the same as asking him to show himself as our Savior and to give us his
gifts. But the greatest manifestation of God’s glory, of his power, was the raising
of Jesus from the dead, and the raising, with him, of the Christian (cf. Rom 6:4;
1 Cor 6:14). In this passage St Paul asks God “the Father of glory” to grant Chris-
tians supernatural wisdom to recognize the greatness of the blessings he has gi-
ven them through his Son; that is, to acknowledge that he is their Father and the
origin of glory. By asking for a “spirit of wisdom and revelation” the Apostle is see-
king special gifts—on the one hand, wisdom, that gift of the Holy Spirit which ena-
bles one to penetrate the mystery of God: “Who has learned thy counsel, unless
thou hast given wisdom and sent thy holy Spirit from on high?” (Wis 9:17). This
wisdom which the Church has been given (cf. Eph 1:8) can be communicated to
Christians in a special way, as a special gift or charism of the Holy Spirit. The A-
postle also asks God to give them a spirit “of revelation”, that is, the grace of per-
sonal revelations, such as he himself (cf. 1 Cor 14:6) and other Christians (cf. 1
Cor 14:26) received. It is not a matter of revelation or recognition of new truths,
but rather of special light from the Holy Spirit so as to have a deeper appreciation
of the truth of faith, or of the will of God in a particular situation.
18-19. Along with this deeper knowledge of God, St Paul asks that Christians be
given a fuller and livelier hope, because God and hope are inseparable. He recog-
nizes the faith and charity of the faithful to whom he is writing (cf. 1:15); now he
wants hope to shine more brightly for them; he wants God to enlighten their
minds and make them realize the consequences of their election, their calling, to
be members of the holy people of God, the Church. Hope, therefore, is a gift from
God. “Hope is a supernatural virtue, infused by God into our soul, by which we de-
sire and expect eternal life, promised by God to his servants, and the mean ne-
cessary to obtain it” (”St Pius X Catechism”, 893).
The ground for hope lies in God’s love and power which have been manifested in
the resurrection of Christ. This same power is at work in the Christian. Because
God’s plan for our salvation is an eternal one, he who has called us will lead us
to an immortal life in heaven. The fact that God’s power is at work in us (cf. Rom
5:5) does not mean that we encounter no difficulties. St. Escriva reminds us that
“as we fight this battle, which will last until the day we die, we cannot exclude
the possibility that enemies both within and without may attack with violent force.
As if that were not enough, you may at times be assailed by the memory of your
own past errors, which may have been very many. I tell you now, in God’s name:
do not despair. Should this happen (it need not happen; nor will it usually happen),
then turn it into another motive for uniting yourself more closely to the Lord, for he
has chosen you as his child and he will not abandon you. He has allowed this
trial to befall you so as to have you love him the more and discover even more
clearly his constant protection and love” (”Friends of God”, 214).
20-21. The Apostle is in awe at the marvels which God’s power has worked in
Jesus Christ. He sees Christ as the source and model of our hope. “For, just as
Christ’s life is the model and exemplar of our holiness, so is the glory and exal-
tation of Christ the form and exemplar of our glory and exaltation” (St Thomas
Aquinas, “Commentary on Eph, ad. Ioc”.).
As elsewhere in the New Testament (cf. Acts 7:56; Heb 1:3; 1 Pet 3:22), the fact
that the risen Christ is seated “at the right hand” of the Father means that he
shares in God’s kingly authority. The Apostle is using a comparison with which
people of his time were very familiar — that of the emperor seated on his throne.
The throne has always been the symbol of supreme authority and power. Thus,
the “St Pius V Catechism” explains that being seated at the right hand “does not
imply position or posture of body, but expresses the firm and permanent posses-
sion of royal and supreme power and glory, which he received from the Father”
(I, 7, 3).
Christ’s pre-eminence is absolute: he is Lord of all creation, material as well as
spiritual, earthly as well as heavenly. “All rule and authority and power and do-
minion”: this refers to the angelic spirits (cf. note on Eph 3:10), whom the false
preachers were presenting as superior to Christ. St Paul argues against them:
Jesus Christ at his resurrection was raised by God above all created beings.
22-23. In previous letters St Paul described the Church as a body (cf. Rom 12:
4f; 1 Cor 12:12ff). Here, and in Colossians 1:18, he pursues this comparison and
says that it is the body of Christ, and that Christ is its head. He returns to this
teaching elsewhere in the Captivity Epistles (cf. Col 1:18; Eph 5:23f). The image
of body and head highlights the life-giving and salvific influence of Christ on the
Church, and at the same time emphasizes his supremacy over the Church (cf.
St. Thomas Aquinas, “Commentary on Eph, ad loc.”, and also the note on Col
1:18). This fact fills Christians with joy: by joining the Church through Baptism,
they have become truly members of our Lord’s body. “No, it is not pride”, Paul
VI says, “ nor arrogance nor obstinacy nor stupidity nor folly that makes us so
sure of being living, genuine members of Christ’s body, the authentic heirs of
his Gospel” (”Ecclesiam Suam”, 33).
This image also reveals Christ’s close union with his Church and his deep love
for her: “he loved her so much”, St John of Avila observes, “that although what
normally happens is that a person raises his arm to take a blow and protect his
head, this blessed Lord, who is the head, put himself forward to receive the blow
of divine justice, and died on the Cross to give life to his body, that is, us. And
after giving us life, through penance and the sacraments, he endows us, defends
and keeps us as something so very much his own, that he is not content with
calling us his servants, friends, brethren or children: the better to show his love
and render us honor, he gives us his name. For, by means of this ineffable union
of Christ the head with the Church his body, he and we are together called ‘Christ”’
(”Audi, Filia”, chap. 84).
The Apostle also describes the Church, the body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12:12) as
his “fullness” (cf. note on Col 1:19). What he means is that, through the Church,
Christ becomes present in and fills the entire universe and extends to it the fruits
of his redemptive activity. By being the vehicle which Christ uses to distribute his
grace to all, the Church is different from the Israel of the Old Testament: it is not
confined to a particular geographical location.
Because the Church has limitless grace, its call is addressed to all mankind: all
men are invited to attain salvation in Christ. “For many centuries now, the Church
has been spread throughout the world,” St. Escriva comments, “and it numbers
persons of all races and walks of life. But the universality of the Church does not
depend on its geographical extension, even though that is a visible sign and a mo-
tive of credibility. The Church was catholic already at Pentecost; it was born ca-
tholic from the wounded heart of Jesus, as a fire which the Holy Spirit enkindles
[...]. ‘We call it catholic’, writes St Cyril, ‘not only because it is spread throughout
the whole world, from one extreme to the other, but because in a universal way
and without defect it teaches all the dogmas which men ought to know, of both
the visible and the invisible, the celestial and the earthly. Likewise, because it
draws to true worship all types of men, those who govern and those who are ruled,
the learned and the ignorant. And finally, because it cures and makes healthy all
kinds of sins, whether of the soul or of the body, possessing in addition—by what-
ever name it may be called—all the forms of virtue, in deeds and in words and in
every kind of spiritual gift’ (”Catechesis”, 18, 23)” (”In Love with the Church”, 9).
All grace reaches the Church through Christ. The Second Vatican Council reminds
us: “He continually endows his body, that is, the Church, with gifts of ministries
through which, by his power, we serve each other unto salvation so that, carrying
out the truth in love, we may through all things grow into him who is our head”
(”Lumen Gentium”, 7). This is why St Paul calls the Church the “body” of Christ;
and it is in this sense that it is the “fullness” (”pleroma”) of Christ—not because it
in any way fills out or completes Christ but because it is filled with Christ, full of
Christ, forming a single body with him, a single spiritual organism, whose unifying
and life-giving principle is Christ, its head. This demonstrates Christ’s absolute su-
premacy; his unifying and life-giving influence extends from God to Christ, from
Christ to the Church, and from the Church to all men. It is he in fact who fills all
in all (cf. Eph 4:10; Col 1:17-19; 2:9f).
The fact that the Church is the body of Christ is a further reason why we should
love it and serve it. As Pope Pius XII wrote: “To ensure that this genuine and
whole-hearted love will reign in our hearts and grow every day, we must accustom
ourselves to see Christ himself in the Church. For it is indeed Christ who lives in
the Church, and through her teaches, governs and sanctifies; and it is also Christ
who manifests himself in manifold disguise in the various members of his society”
(”Mystici Corporis”, 43).
*********************************************************************************************
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: Ephesians 4:1-13 (or 1-7, 11-13)
A Call to Unity
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Commentary:
1-16. The second part of the letter points out certain practical consequences of
the teaching given earlier. The underlying theme of the previous chapters was the
revelation of the “mystery” of Christ — the calling of all men, Gentiles and Jews,
to form a single people, the Church. The second part of the letter begins with an
appeal to maintain the unity of the Church in the face of factors making for division
— internal discord (vv. 1-3), misuse of the different gifts or charisms with which
Christ endows individuals (v. 7), and the danger of being led astray by heretical
ideas (v. 14). Against this, St Paul teaches that the Church’s unity is grounded
on the oneness of God (vv. 4-6), and that Christ acts with full authority in the buil-
ding up of his body, through its various ministries (vv. 8-13) and through its mem-
bers’ solidarity (vv. 14-16).
1. The exhortation begins by stating a general principle: a Christian’s conduct
should be consistent with the calling he has received from God.
Enormous consequences flow from the fact of being called to form part of the
Church through Baptism: “Being members of a holy nation,” St. Escriva says,
“all the faithful have received a call to holiness, and they must strive to respond
to grace and to be personally holy [...]. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who founds the
holy Church, expects the members of this people to strive continually to acquire
holiness. Not all respond loyally to his call. And in the spouse of Christ there are
seen, at one and the same time, both the marvel of the way of salvation and the
shortcomings of those who take up that way” (”In Love with the Church”, 5-6).
Speaking about incorporation into the Church, which is the way of salvation, Va-
tican II exhorts Catholics to “remember that their exalted condition results, not
from their own merits, but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to respond in
thought, word and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they
shall be the more severely judged (see Lk 12:48: ‘everyone to whom much is gi-
ven, of him will much be required’; cf. Mt 5:19-20; 7:21-22; 25:41-46; Jas 2:14)”
(”Lumen Gentium”, 14).
2-3. The virtues which the Apostle lists here are all different aspects of charity
which “binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Col 3:14) and is the mark
of the true disciple of Christ (cf. Jn 13:35). Charity originates not in man but in
God: “it is a supernatural virtue infused by God into our soul by which we love
God above everything else for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for
love of God” (”St Pius X Catechism”, 898). In its decree on ecumenism the Se-
cond Vatican Council shows the perennial relevance of these words of St Paul:
“There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without interior conversion.
For it is from interior renewal of mind (cf. Eph 4:23), from self-denial and unstin-
ted love, that desires of unity take their rise and develop in a mature way. We
should therefore pray to the Holy Spirit for the grace to be genuinely self-
denying, humble, gentle in the service of others and to have an attitude of bro-
therly generosity toward them” (”Unitatis Redintegratio”, 7).
Charity is basic to the building up of a peaceful human society. ‘The conscious-
ness of being trespassers against each other goes hand in hand with the call to
fraternal solidarity, which St Paul expressed in his concise exhortation to ‘forbear
one another in love’. What a lesson of humility is to be found here with regard to
man, with regard both to one’s neighbor and to oneself! What a school of good
will for daily living, in the various conditions of our existence!” (Bl. John Paul II,
“Dives In Misericordia”, 14).
The peace which unites Christians is the peace which Christ brings, or rather
it is Christ himself (cf. 2:14). By having the same faith and the same Spirit, “all
find themselves”, says St John Chrysostom, “brought together in the Church —
old and young, poor and rich, adult and child, husband and wife: people of either
sex and of every condition become one and the same, more closely united than
the parts of a single body, for the unity of souls is more intimate and more per-
fect than that of any natural substance. However, this unity is maintained only
by ‘the bond of peace’. It could not exist in the midst of disorder and enmity....
This is a bond which does not restrict us, which unites us closely to one another
and does not overwhelm us: it expands our heart and gives us greater joy than
we could ever have if we were unattached. He who is strong is linked to the wea-
ker one to carry him and prevent him from falling and collapsing. Does the weak
person feel weak?: the stronger person tries to build up his strength. ‘A brother
helped is like a strong city’, says the wise man (Prov 18: 19)” (”Hom. on Eph,
9, ad loc”.).
Union of hearts, affections and intentions is the result of the action of the Holy
Spirit in souls, and it makes for effectiveness and strength in apostolate.
“Do you see? One strand of wire entwined with another, many woven tightly to-
gether, form that cable strong enough to lift huge weights.
“You and your brothers, with wills united to carry out God’s will, can overcome
all obstacles” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 480).
4-6. To show the importance of unity in the Church, and the theological basis of
that unity, St Paul quotes an acclamation which may well have been taken from
early Christian baptismal liturgy. It implies that the unity of the Church derives
from the unicity of the divine essence. The text also reflects the three persons
of the Blessed Trinity who are at work in the Church and who keep it together —
one Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father.
There is “only one” Holy Spirit, who brings about and maintains the unity of
Christ’s mystical body; and there is “only one” such body, the Church: “After
being lifted up on the cross and glorified, the Lord Jesus pours forth the Spirit
whom he had promised, and through whom he has called and gathered together
the people of the New Covenant, which is the Church, into a unity of faith, hope
and charity, as the Apostle teaches us (Eph 4:4-5; Gal 3:27-28) [...] It is the Ho-
ly Spirit, dwelling in believers and pervading and ruling over the entire Church,
who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them toge-
ther so intimately in Christ, for he [the Spirit] is the principle of the Church’s uni-
ty” (Vatican II, “Unitatis Redintegratio”, 2). All — Gentiles as well as Jews — are
called to join this Church; all, therefore, share the one single hope — that of be-
ing saints which is implied in the vocation they have received.
Recognition of there being only one Lord, who is head of the mystical body, un-
derlines the unity that should obtain among all the many members of this single
body. All its members are solidly built on Christ when they confess “only one”
faith — the faith that he taught and which the Apostles and the Church have ex-
pressed in clear statements of doctrine and dogma. “There can be only one faith;
and so, if a person refuses to listen to the Church, he should be considered, so
the Lord commands, as a heathen and a publican (cf. Mt 18:17)” (Pius XII, “Mys-
tici Corporis”, 10). All Christians have also received only one Baptism, that is,
a Baptism by means of which, after making a profession of faith, they join the
other members of the Church as their equals. Since there is only “one Lord, one
faith, one baptism,” “there is a common dignity of members deriving from their
rebirth in Christ, a common grace as sons, a common vocation to perfection,
one salvation, one hope and undivided charity. In Christ and in the Church there
is, then, no inequality arising from race or nationality, social condition or sex,
for ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; there is nei-
ther male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal 3:28; cf. Col 3:11)”
(Vatican II,”Lumen Gentium”, 32).
God, the Father of all, is, in the last analysis, the basis of the natural unity of
mankind. Pope Pius XII, after recalling that the sacred books tell us that all the
rest of mankind originated from the first man and woman, and how all the various
tribes and peoples grew up which are scattered throughout the world, exclaimed,
“This is a wonderful vision which allows us to reflect on the unity of mankind: all
mankind has a common origin in the Creator, as we are told, ‘one God and fa-
ther of us all’ (Eph 4:6); moreover, all men and women share one and the same
nature: all have a material body and an immortal and spiritual soul” (”Summi
Pontificatus”, 18). God is “above all”: his lordship and control over things means
that he is the author and maintainer of their unity. Throughout history he has
acted “through all” his children, that is, believers, whom he has used to bring
about unity among men and over all created things. And he dwells “in all” the
faithful, for they belong to him; even the deepest recesses of their hearts are
his.
7. The diversity of graces or charisms which accompany the various kinds of vo-
cation given to members of the Church do not undermine its unity; rather, they
enhance it, because it is Christ himself who bestows these gifts, as St Paul tea-
ches in vv. 8-10. Christ also provides the Church with ministers who devote them-
selves to building up his body (vv. 11-12).
So just as there is a great variety of personality and situation, the Church eviden-
ces many kinds of “charisms” or different ways of actually living out the calling to
holiness which God addresses to all. “In the Church”, Bl. John Paul II points out,
“as the community of the people of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit’s
working, each member has ‘his own special gift’, as St Paul teaches (1 Cor 7:7).
Although this ‘gift’ is a personal vocation and a form of participation in the Church’s
saving work, it also serves others, builds the Church and the fraternal communi-
ties in the various spheres of human life on earth” (”Redemptor Hominis”, 21).
11-12. The Apostle here refers to certain ministries or offices in the Church,
which are performed not only in a charismatic way, under the influence of the Ho-
ly Spirit, but as an assignment or ministry entrusted to the particular individual by
the glorified Lord.
These ministries have to do with preaching (teaching) and government. In 1 Co-
rinthians 12:27-30 and Romans 12:6-8, mention is made, alongside ministries,
of other charisms which complete the array of the gifts to be found in the mysti-
cal body of Christ. St Paul here presents them as gifts given by Christ, the head
of his body, gifts which make for the strengthening of its unity and love. In this
connection, see the quotation from “Lumen Gentium”, 7, in the note on 1:22-23
above. These graces are provided by the Holy Spirit who, “distributing various
kinds of spiritual gifts and ministries (cf. 1 Cor 12:4-11), enriches the Church of
Jesus Christ with different functions in order to equip the saints for the works of
service (cf. Eph 4:12)” (”Unitatis Redintegratio”, 2).
In the list which St Paul gives the first to appear are apostles. These may be the
first apostles (including Paul himself) or a wider group (cf. 1 Cor 15:7; Rom 16:7)
which includes others sent as missionaries to establish new Christian communi-
ties. Alongside them (as in Eph 2:20; 3:5) come prophets, who are also the bed-
rock of the Church, trustees of revelation. Essentially a prophet was not someone
“sent” but rather one whose role was to “upbuild, encourage and console” (cf. 1
Cor 14:3; Acts 13:1) and who normally stayed within a particular community. The
“evangelists” were others, who had not received a direct revelation but who devo-
ted themselves to preaching the Gospel which the apostles had passed on to
them (cf. Acts 21:8; 2 Tim 4:5). It may be that St Paul mentions them here, a-
long with apostles and prophets, because it was evangelists who first preached
the Gospel in Ephesus. The last to be mentioned are pastors and teachers,
whose role was that of ruling and giving ongoing instruction to particular commu-
nities.
There is no necessary reason why the terminology used in apostolic times for
ministries in the Church should be the same as that used nowadays; however,
the ministries themselves do not change: “Guiding the Church in the way of all
truth (cf. Jn 16:13) and unifying her in communion and in the works of ministry,
the Holy Spirit bestows upon her varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in
this way directs her; and he adorns her with his fruits (cf. Eph 4: 12; 1 Cor 12:4;
Gal 5:22)” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 4).
And, of course, all Christians have a responsibility to spread Christ’s teaching,
to cooperate in the Church’s work of catechesis. “Catechesis always has been
and always will be”, Bl. John Paul II teaches, “a work for which the whole Church
must feel responsible and must wish to be responsible. But the Church’s mem-
bers have different responsibilities, derived from each one’s mission. Because of
their charge, pastors have, at differing levels, the chief responsibility for fostering,
guiding and coordinating catechesis [...]. Priests and religious have in cateche-
sis a preeminent field for their apostolate. On another level, parents have a
unique responsibility. Teachers, the various ministers of the Church, catechists,
and also organizers of social communications, all have in various degrees very
precise responsibilities in this education of the believing conscience, an educa-
tion that is important for the life of the Church and affects the life of society as
such” (”Catechesi Tradendae”, 16).
13. The building up of the body of Christ occurs to the extent that its members
strive to hold on to the truths of faith and to practice charity. The “knowledge of
the Son of God” refers not only to the object of faith — which is basically the ac-
ceptance of Christ as true God and true man — but also to a vital and loving re-
lationship with him. A conscientious approach to the personal obligations that
faith implies is the mark of maturity, whereas an undeveloped, childish persona-
lity is marked by a certain instability.
As Christians develop in faith and love, they become more firmly inserted into
the body of Christ and make a greater contribution to its development. In this way
“mature manhood” is reached: this seems to refer not to the individual Christian
but rather to the “total Christ” or “whole Christ” in St Augustine’s phrase, that is,
all the members in union with the head, Christ. “It is due to this communication
of the Spirit of Christ that all the gifts, virtues, and miraculous powers which are
found eminently, most abundantly, and fontally in the head, stream into all the
members of the Church and in them are perfected daily according to the place
of each in the mystical body of Jesus Christ; and that, consequently, the Church
becomes as it were the fullness and completion of the Redeemer, Christ in the
Church being in some sense brought to complete achievement” (Pius XII, “Mys-
tici Corporis”, 34).
“The fullness of Christ” must mean the Church itself or Christians incorporated
into Christ; the “fullness” (”pleroma”) of a boat is the sum total of the gear, crew
and cargo which “fill” the boat, and mean it is ready to weigh anchor. “As mem-
bers of the living Christ, incorporated into him and made like him by Baptism,
Confirmation and the Eucharist, all the faithful have an obligation to collaborate
in the spreading and growth of his body, so that they might bring it to fullness
as soon as possible” (Vatican II, “Ad Gentes”, 36).
*********************************************************************************************
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.