Friday, June 17, 2005

Reading for Friday, 11th Week in Ordinary Time

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.
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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).
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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.

Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.

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