June 17, 2005
Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm: Friday 27
Reading I2 Cor 11:18, 21-30
Brothers and sisters:
Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast.
To my shame I say that we were too weak!
But what anyone dares to boast of
(I am speaking in foolishness)
I also dare.
Are they Hebrews? So am I.
Are they children of Israel? So am I.
Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
Are they ministers of Christ?
(I am talking like an insane person).
I am still more, with far greater labors,
far more imprisonments, far worse beatings,
and numerous brushes with death.
Five times at the hands of the Jews
I received forty lashes minus one.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned,
three times I was shipwrecked,
I passed a night and a day on the deep;
on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers,
dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race,
dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city,
dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea,
dangers among false brothers;
in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights,
through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings,
through cold and exposure.
And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me
of my anxiety for all the churches.
Who is weak, and I am not weak?
Who is led to sin, and I am not indignant?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
Responsorial PsalmPs 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (see 18b)
From all their distress God rescues the just.I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R.
From all their distress God rescues the just.Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R.
From all their distress God rescues the just.Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R.
From all their distress God rescues the just.
GospelMt 6:19-23
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.
But store up treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
"The lamp of the body is the eye.
If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light;
but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness.
And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be."
From: 2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30
He (St. Paul) Apologizes for Boasting (Continuation)
[18] Since many boast of worldly things, I too will boast. [21] To my
shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!
What He has Suffered for Christ
But whatever any one dares to boast of--I am speaking as a fool--I also
dare to boast of that. [22] Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they
Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
[23] Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a
madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless
beatings, and often near death. [24] Five times I have received at the
hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. [25] Three times I have
been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been
shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; [26] on
frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger
from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in
the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; [27] in toil
and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst,
often without food, in cold and exposure. [28] And, apart from other
things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the
churches. [29] Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and
I am not indignant?
[30] If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
Commentary:
16-21. The Apostle breaks off once more to excuse his boasting. The
only reason why he is making this apologia is to defend his apostolic
authority over the Corinthians.
"The Apostle", St John Chrysostom comments, "acts like someone of
illustrious race who has chosen to dedicate himself to heading a holy
life and who feels compelled to sing the praises of his family in order
to take down certain people who are priding themselves on being
well-born. Do you think he is acting in a vain way? No, because the
only reason he boasts is to humble these vain people" ("Hom on 2 Cor.",
24).
19-20. These words are heavily ironical, caricaturing as they do the
foolishness of the Corinthians, who consider themselves to be so
sensible. St Paul upbraided them on this score previously (cf. 1 Cor
1:18-4:21). In this instance their foolishness consists in letting
themselves be taken advantage of by intruders and doing nothing about
it.
21. "To my shame, I must say": this could also be translated as "To
shame you I tell you", for the Greek does not make it clear who feels
ashamed. St Paul is still speaking sarcastically: he argues that he
showed himself too weak to the Corinthians, for he has not taken
advantage of them the way the false apostles have. That may be why, he
tells them, they consider him inferior to the latter.
23-33. St Paul begins his apologia proper, in which he points out his
merits in contrast with those of his opponents. On the score of race,
he is their equal (v. 22); on the score of being a minister of Christ,
he is much better qualified: as proof of this he offers the physical
suffering he has undergone in his apostolate (vv. 23-27, 30-33), and
the moral suffering (vv. 28f). One cannot fail to be moved by this
outline of his sufferings, an account which provides us with extremely
valuable information about his life not contained in the Acts of the
Apostles. Although this list is not exhaustive (cf. v. 28), and much
suffering still lies ahead of him, we can see that Ananias' prophecy
has already come true: "I will show him how much he must suffer for the
sake of my name" (Acts 9:16).
It is very revealing that the evidence he provides to show his
superiority as a servant of Christ is precisely his sufferings. Our
Lord had already said, "If any man would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Lk 9:23).
Suffering, the cross, is something inseparable from the Christian life,
and a sure sign that one is following in the Master's footsteps.
Monsignor Escriva comments: "When we set out seriously along the 'royal
highway', that of following Christ and behaving as children of God, we
soon realize what awaits us--the Holy Cross. We must see it as the
central point upon which to rest our hope of being united with our
Lord.
"Let me warn you that the program ahead is not an easy one. It takes an
effort to lead the kind of life our Lord wants. Listen to the account
St Paul gives of the incidents and sufferings he encountered in
carrying out the will of Jesus: 'Five times I have received at the
hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one' (2 Cor 11:24-28)"
("Friends of God", 212).
22. The Apostle makes it quite clear that he is the equal of his
opponents as far as background goes. The three terms used (Hebrew,
Israelite, descendant of Abraham), although in a way they all mean
the same, have different shades of meaning. "Hebrews" here designates
both origin--descendants of Eber (cf. Gen 11:14)--and race. It may be
that Paul's enemies questioned his ethnic purity on the grounds that
he had been born in Tarsus, a city in Asia Minor; however, he was "a
Hebrew born of Hebrews" (Phil 3:5) and spoke Hebrew (cf. Acts 21:40).
"Israelites"--descendants of Jacob, whose name Yahweh changed to
"Israel" (cf. Gen 32:28)--would indicate that he was a member of
the chosen people who had the true religion. Being a "descendant of
Abraham" would refer to the fact that he was an heir to the messianic
promises.
St Paul often had to make a point of stressing his Jewish origin (cf.
Acts 22:3; Rom 11:1; Gal 1:13ff; Phil 3:4ff). Probably his opponents
were forever trying to discredit his teaching--about the superiority of
the New Law over the Old, about circumcision not being necessary--by
saying he was not a Jew. He most certainly is, he says, and he often
refers to his immense love for those of his race (cf. Rom 9).
24. It is not possible to say exactly when these beatings took place;
they are not reported in the Acts of the Apostles. Possibly they
occurred in some of the synagogues where he went to preach: synagogues
in the Diaspora had authority to inflict this form of punishment.
Because Jewish law laid down a maximum of forty lashes
(cf. Deut 25:2f), usually only thirty-nine were given to avoid going
beyond the limit. It was a very severe and demeaning form of
punishment.
25. The Romans beat people with rods. Though three beatings are
mentioned here the Acts of the Apostles only tell us of one instance of
Paul's being punished in this way at Philippi (cf. Acts 16:22-24). On
the three occasions he must have been beaten unlawfully, for Roman law
prescribed that this punishment could only be imposed on Roman
citizens--St Paul was a Roman (cf. Acts 22:25-29)--when they were under
sentence of death.
The stoning took place at Lystra, and after it the Apostle was dragged
out of the city and left for dead (cf. Acts 14:19f).
The Acts of the Apostles refer to only one instance of shipwreck (cf.
Acts 27:9ff).
28-29. In addition to the physical sufferings mentioned, others still
greater weigh down on the Apostle--who was "all things to all men"
(1 Cor 9:22)--those to do with the pastoral care of people who sought
his help, and the care of the churches he had founded. The physical
evils, St John Chrysostom comments, "no matter how terrible they may
have been, passed over quite quickly and left behind them a great
consolation. But what afflicted Paul, what oppressed his heart and made
him so anxious was the pain caused him by the laxity of all the
faithful without any distinction. It was not only the behavior of
prominent members that caused him pain; he was indifferent to no one;
he ranked all Christians, irrespective of who they were, as his dearly
beloved children" ("Hom. on 2 Cor.", 25).
The Apostle, who is identified with Christ (cf. Gal 2: 19f), makes his
own the words of his Master: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn 10:11). He stands as a model for
pastors of the Church as regards the solicitude they should have for
the souls God has entrusted to them.
30. As if by way of summing up what he has said already, St Paul points
out that he is really boasting about his "weakness", that is, about
things which worldly eyes see as weakness, failure and humiliation. He
will go on to explain that it is really in these things that God's
power and strength are most clearly to be seen (cf. 12:7:10): this
"weakness" makes fruitful the work of his chosen ones.
This is another example of the paradox of the Christian life: Christ
won victory on the cross, and his Apostles rejoice and are proud to
suffer on his account (cf. 7:4; 8:2; Acts 5:41; Gal 6:14).
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.
From: Matthew 6:19-23
Trust in God's Fatherly Providence
----
(Jesus said to His disciples,) [19] "Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break
in and steal, [20] but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where
neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and
steal. [21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
[22] "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your
whole body will be full of light; [23] but if your eye is not sound,
your whole body will be full of darkness."
Commentary:
19-21. The idea here is very clear: man's heart yearns for a treasure
which will give him security and happiness. However, every treasure in
the form of earthly goods--wealth, property--becomes a constant source
of worry, because there is always the risk we will lose it or because
the effort to protect it is such a strain.
Against this, Jesus teaches us here that our true treasure lies in good
works and an upright life, which will be eternally rewarded by God in
Heaven. That indeed is a treasure which one never loses, a treasure on
which Christ's disciple should put his heart.
Jesus closes the teaching contained in the preceding verses with a kind
of refrain (verse 21). He is not saying that people should be
unconcerned about earthly things; what He does say is that no created
thing can be "the treasure", the ultimate aim, of man. What man should
do is make his way to God, sanctify himself and give all glory to God,
by making right use of the noble things of the earth: "Whether you eat
or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1
Corinthians 10:31; cf. Colossians 3:17).
22-23. Here is another jewel of Jesus' wisdom teaching. It begins with
a sentence which is then immediately explained. The Master uses the
simile of the eye as a lamp which provides the body with light.
Christian exegesis has seen this "eye", this "lamp", as meaning the
motivation behind our behavior. St. Thomas explains it in this way:
"The eye refers to motive. When a person wants to do something, he
first forms an intention: thus, if your intention is sound--simple and
clear--that is to say, if it is directed towards God, your whole body,
that is, all your actions, will be sound, sincerely directed towards
good" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on St. Matthew", 6, 22-23).
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.
