From: 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Visions and Revelations
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[1] I (Paul) must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. [2] I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven-- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. [3] And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows--[4] and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. [5] On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. [6] Though if I wish to boast, I shall not be a fool, for I shall be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. [7] And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. [8] Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; [9] but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10] For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
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Commentary:
1-10. He continues his apologia by referring to visions and revelations he has received from the Lord. From other letters and from the Acts of the Apostles we know that there were many of these in the course of his life (cf. Acts 9:1-8; 16:9; 18:9f; 22:17-21; 27:23f; 1 Cor 15:8; Gal 1:12); but he refers to only one of them.
The Apostle couches this account in the third person--"a man in Christ"--possibly because he feels embarrassed (vv. 1, 5) to have to reveal these graces God has given him. Therefore, after describing these visions briefly (vv. 1-6), he speaks about the weakness the Lord has allowed him to have, to prevent him from taking pride in these wonderful experiences (vv. 7-10).
"Fourteen years ago": that is, in the period 43-44, possibly during his stay in Tarsus (cf. Acts 9:30), Antioch (Acts 11:25ff; 13:1-3) or Jerusalem (Acts 11:30).
2-4. Although he is able to quote the precise time of the vision, he cannot explain how it happened. It may have been an instance of supernatural contemplation in which his physical senses played no part, which would explain why he does not know whether he was in the body or not. St Thomas Aquinas, with St Augustine, is of the view that St Paul was given a vision of the essence of God, as Moses had been (cf. Ex 33:11; Deut 34:10): "The Apostle's very words indicate this. For he says that 'he heard words that cannot be told, which man may not utter', and such would be words pertaining to the vision of the blessed, which transcends the state of the wayfarer" (Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 175, a. 3). To help us understand the difficulty St Paul had in explaining himself, we might study what St Catherine of Siena said when God revealed to her some of the mysteries of divine providence: "O eternal Father, fire and depths of love, eternal mercy! O hope! O refuge of sinners, eternal and infinite good! [...] What need have you of your creatures? [...] What more can I say? Shall I act like a baby and say, Ah, ah, ah, for that is all I can say: language cannot express the affection of a soul that infinitely desires you? I seem to be saying what Paul said: 'Words cannot describe, not ear hear, nor eyes see ...what I have seen.' What did you see then? I have seen the mystery of God. But, what is this that I am saying? Not, to be sure, that I have seen them with these lower senses; however, I tell you, my soul, that you have tasted and have seen the very depths of supreme, eternal Providence" (Dialogue, 10).
"The third heaven": according to some commentators, this simply refers to the situation in which the blessed dwell, that is, the most sublime level of divine contemplation. Others see in it an echo of Jewish traditions which spoke of a first heaven (the atmosphere of the earth), a second (the heaven of the stars) and a third (the dwelling-place of God). In any event, "Paradise" (v. 4) would have the same meaning.
5-6. The Apostle is speaking metaphorically as if there were two people in him--one, who receives supernatural gifts, which he glories in as coming from God; the other, who experiences severe afflictions of different kinds, which he also boasts about because they show forth God's power (cf. 12:9). "In man", St Thomas comments, "two things may be considered--the gift of God, and the human condition. If one glories in some divine gift, as coming from God, that is a good boast, because it is boasting in the Lord [...]. But if one glories in that gift as something coming from oneself, then that is a bad kind of boast" (Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.).
7-10. Displaying admirable humility, St Paul now refers to the weakness God allowed him to experience to ensure his supernatural gifts did not make him proud. It is impossible to say what exactly the "thorn in his flesh" was. Some Fathers--St Augustine, for example--and modern commentators think that it was some particularly painful and humiliating physical ailment, possibly the same one as he refers to in Galatians 4:13f, where he also speaks in general terms. Others, like St John Chrysostom, are of the view that he is referring to the pain which continual persecution caused him. Others--from St Gregory the Great onwards--opt for an ascetical interpretation; they say he is referring to temptations to do with conscience; but the supporters of the two other theses argue, for example, that it is unlikely that St Paul would have mentioned anything of that kind, because it could have given his enemies ammunition for further attacks.
St Paul asked God to take this "thorn" away, but the heavenly answer he received is very revealing: God's grace is enough to enable him to cope with this difficulty--which serves to reveal God's power. And so it is that he boasts of and is content with his weaknesses and the persecution he suffers: in these circumstances he is stronger than ever, thanks to God's supernatural help.
When commenting on this passage, St Thomas explains that God sometimes permits certain kinds of evil in order to draw out greater good: for example, in order to protect people from pride--the root of all vices--he sometimes allows his chosen ones to be humiliated by an illness, or a defect, or even by mortal sin, in order that "the person who is humbled in this way might recognize that he cannot stand firm by his own efforts alone. Hence it is said in Romans 8:28, 'We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him'--not of course that God seeks the sin but [the sinner's] turning to him" (Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.).
7. "A messenger of Satan", an angel of Satan: this is how he describes the humiliating "thorn". This suggests that the disability could have been seen as an obstacle to his work of evangelization--which the devil, logically, would have been keen to frustrate (cf. 2:11; 11:14f).
8-10. Christians can learn a great deal about the ascetical struggle from these words. They remind us, on the one hand, of the need to ask the Lord to help us when we experience difficulties, and at the same time to be full of trust and to abandon ourselves to God, who knows what is best for us. "The Lord is good", St Jerome teaches, "because he often does not give us what we desire, in order to give us something we would prefer" (Epist. ad Paulinum).
The passage also shows us what attitude we should take to our own weakness: "We have to glory", St Alphonsus says, "in the knowledge of our own weakness in order to acquire the strength of Jesus Christ, which is holy humility", without "giving in to lack of confidence, as the devil wants, and falling into more serious sins" (Treasury of Preaching Material, II, 6).
At the same time this passage teaches us that awareness of our personal shortcomings should lead us to put all our trust in God: "We have to cry out ceaselessly with a strong and humble faith, 'Lord, put not your trust in me. But I, I put my trust in you. ' Then, as we sense in our hearts the love, the compassion, the tenderness of Christ's gaze upon us (for he never abandons us) we shall come to understand the full meaning of those words of St Paul, virtus in infirmitate perficitur (2 Cor 12:9). If we have faith in our Lord, in spite of our failings--or rather, with our failings--we shall be faithful to our Father, God; his divine power will shine forth in us, sustaining us in our weakness" (St J. Escriva, Friends of God, 194).
Trust in God's Fatherly Providence (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to His disciples,) [24] "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
[25] "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [26] Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27] And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? [28] And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; [29] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? [31] Therefore do not be anxious, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' [32] For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33] But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
[34] "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day."
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Commentary:
24. Man's ultimate goal is God; to attain this goal he should commit himself entirely. But in fact some people do not have God as their ultimate goal, and instead choose wealth of some kind--in which case wealth becomes their god. Man cannot have two absolute and contrary goals.
25-32. In this beautiful passage Jesus shows us the value of the ordinary things of life, and teaches us to put our trust in God's fatherly providence. Using simple examples and comparisons taken from everyday life, He teaches us to abandon ourselves into the arms of God.
27. The word "span" could be translated as "stature", but "span" is closer to the original (cf. Luke 12:25). A "cubit" is a measure of length which can metaphorically refer to time.
33. Here again the righteousness of the Kingdom means the life of grace in man--which involves a whole series of spiritual and moral values and can be summed up in the notion of "holiness". The search for holiness should be our primary purpose in life. Jesus is again insisting on the primacy of spiritual demands. Commenting on this passage, Pope Paul VI says: "Why poverty? It is to give God, the Kingdom of God, the first place in the scale of values which are the object of human aspirations. Jesus says: `Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness'. And He says this with regard to all the other temporal goods, even necessary and legitimate ones, with which human desires are usually concerned. Christ's poverty makes possible that detachment from earthly things which allows us to place the relationship with God at the peak of human aspirations" (General Audience, 5 January 1977).
34. Our Lord exhorts us to go about our daily tasks serenely and not to worry uselessly about what happened yesterday or what may happen tomorrow. This is wisdom based on God's fatherly providence and on our own everyday experience: "He who observes the wind will not sow; and he who regards the clouds will not reap" (Eccles 11:4).
What is important, what is within our reach, is to live in God's presence and make good use of the present moment: "Do your duty `now', without looking back on `yesterday', which has already passed, or worrying over `tomorrow', which may never come for you" (St J. Escriva, The Way, 253).