From: Colossians 3:1-11
Seek the Things That Are Above
[1] If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Avoid Sin
[2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on
earth. [3] For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
[4] When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with
Him in glory. [5] Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is
idolatry. [6] 0n account of these the wrath of God is coming. [7] In
these you once walked, when you lived in them. [8] But now put them all
away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth.
[9] Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old
nature with its practices [10] and have put on the new nature, which is
being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. [11] Here
there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.
Commentary:
1-4. The more ethical and exhortatory part of the letter begins at this
point. It is a practical application of the teaching given in the
earlier chapters, designed to suit the circumstances that have arisen
in the Colossian church.
By His death and resurrection the Son of God frees us from the power of
Satan and of death. "By Baptism men are grafted into the paschal
mystery of Christ; they die with him, are buried with Him, and rise
with Him" (Vatican II, "Sacrosanctum Concilium", 6). In other words,
Christians have been raised to a new kind of life, a supernatural life,
whereby they share, even while on earth, in the glorious life of the
risen Jesus. This life is at present spiritual and hidden, but when
our Lord comes again in glory, it will become manifest and glorious.
Two practical consequences flow from this teaching--the need to seek
the "things that are above", that is, the things of God; and the need
to pass unnoticed in one's everyday work and ordinary life, yet to do
everything with a supernatural purpose in mind.
As regards the first of these the Second Vatican Council has said: "In
their pilgrimage to the Heavenly city Christians are to seek and relish
the things that are above (cf. Colossians 3:1-2): this involves not a
lesser, but a greater commitment to working with all men to build a
world that is more human" ("Gaudium Et Spes", 57). Work, family
relationships, social involvements--every aspect of human affairs--
should be approached in a spirit of faith and done perfectly, out of
love: "The true Christian, who acts according to this faith", Monsignor
Escriva comments, "always has his sights set on God. His outlook is
supernatural. He works in this world of ours, which he loves
passionately; he is involved in all its challenges, but all the while
his eyes are fixed on Heaven" ("Friends of God", 206).
Ordinary life, everyday interests, the desire to be better and to serve
others without seeking public recognition of one's merits--all this
makes for holiness if done for love of God. A simple life "hid with
Christ in God" (verse 3) is so important that Jesus Himself chose to
spend the greater part of His life on earth living like an ordinary
person: He was the son of a tradesman. "As we meditate on these
truths, we come to understand better the logic of God. We come to
realize that the supernatural value of our life does not depend on
accomplishing great undertakings suggested to us by our over-active
imagination. Rather it is to be found in the faithful acceptance
of God's will, in welcoming generously the opportunities for small,
daily sacrifice" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 172).
This means that those who try to seek holiness by imitating Jesus in
His hidden life will be people full of hope; they will be optimistic
and happy people; and after their death they will share in the glory
of the Lord: they will hear Jesus' praise, "Well done, good and
faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little; I will set you
over much; enter into the joy of your Master" (Matthew 25:21).
On the value of the hidden life, see the note on Luke 2:15.
5-17. The Christian, who in Baptism has risen with Christ, should not
live for himself but for God. This means that every day he needs to put
off his old nature and put on the new.
The "old nature", the "old man": one who lets himself be led by
disorderly passions (cf. Rom 7:8), who lets his body do evil in the
service of sin (v. 5; cf. Rom 6:12f). With the help of grace the old
nature is being more and more broken down, while the new nature is
constantly being renewed (cf. 2 Cor 6:16). Impurity and the other vices
need to be uprooted so as to make room for goodness and its train of
Christian virtues (vv. 12-13), especially charity (v. 14), which are
features of the new nature.
Christ's disciple, who has been made a new person and who lives for the
Lord, has a new and more perfect knowledge of God and of the world
(v. 10). Thanks to this he see things from a more elevated viewpoint;
he has a "supernatural insight". This enables him to love and
understand everyone without distinction of race, nation or social
status (v. 11), and to imitate Christ, who has given himself up for
all. "The Only-begotten of the Eternal Father vouchsafed to become a
son of man, that we might be made conformable to the image of the Son
of God and be renewed according to the likeness of him who created us.
Therefore let all those who glory in the name of Christians not only
look upon our divine Savior as the most sublime and most perfect model
of all virtues, but also, by the careful avoidance of sin and the
unremitting practice of holiness, so reproduce in their conduct his
teaching and life, that when the Lord appears they may be like to him
in glory, seeing him as he is (cf. 1 Jn 3:2)" (Pius XII, "Mystici
Corporis", 20).
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.
