Dying, rising with Christ
thanks to Prinz Luv of Katoliko. I'm copying/pasting his post in the group:
Dying, rising with Christ
Written by Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J.,
Views : 28
Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians dwells repeatedly on the threat of suffering and imminence of death in the apostle’s life and, by extension, in that of the Christian believer.
While complex — and perhaps an amalgamation of several shorter messages — in its present form, it is a letter of consolation that illustrates how the dying and rising of Christ is mysteriously at work in the inner being of each Christian (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).
When Paul was rescued by Christ from almost certain death (1:8-11), he experienced a foretaste of the victory God would one day give him through the coming resurrection.
Paul says he once regarded Jesus only “from a human point of view.” Now, however, after many encounters with the Risen Christ he has experienced the new way of life that faith makes possible. The only way to describe this new reality is by such a formula as “a new creation.” “Everything old,” Paul declared, “has passed away; see everything has become new” (5:16-17).
This changes not only one’s perception, but one’s behaviour; so that disciples “might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for them” (5:14-15).
Paul summed up Jesus’ sympathy for human frailty and incomprehension in a paradox expressing the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ’s incarnation: “though He was rich (in divine status), yet for your sakes He became poor (in entering the human condition), so that by His poverty you might become rich” (8:9).
Something that has fascinated Christians over the centuries is the meaning of an affliction Paul referred to near the conclusion of Second Corinthians (11:16-12:10).
While speaking of mystical graces accorded him by God (“a person in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven”), Paul went on to say that to keep him from being too elated “a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me” (12:7).
Commentators have speculated on the nature of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” Identifications of it range from a bodily ailment (epilepsy, migraine, malaria, ophthalmia, a speech impediment) to something mental (bouts of depression, an experience of despair) or even spiritual (a temptation of some kind). Some focus on the term “messenger of Satan” and surmise Paul meant his persecutors or Christians who regarded him as a heretic. Whatever it was, the thorn in Paul’s flesh seems to have begun around the time of his visionary experience and continued up to the time of his writing this letter. Perhaps he needed to be brought down to Earth after his “rapture” (12:1-6).
Paul, however, did not see it that way. So, he three times prayed to be relieved of what humiliated him and seemed to interfere with the effectiveness of his ministry. The answer to Paul’s prayer taught him that the same God who had given him the spiritual experience had also given him the thorn.
Paul knew that many Corinthians — like others in the ancient world and even some people today — expected their religious leaders to have visions and revelations, tokens of God’s blessing. With this expectation, the Corinthians probably did not think visionaries would also be humbled by some affliction, an experience that we may characterize as the shame of the Cross.
Paul received his vision and revelations in the third or highest heaven, sometimes called Paradise. Paul did nothing to bring about such a mystical experience. Rather, it was given him by God. Nor would Paul permit himself to speak boastfully about it. For he had “heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat” (12:4).
Paul’s mystical journey came about entirely by God’s grace. Remarkably, the thorn in his flesh occasioned another revelation. In reply to Paul’s prayer, “the Lord” — doubtless this refers to Jesus — taught Paul a profound lesson, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (12:8-9).
Paul could have learned many lessons from suffering: that, borne patiently, suffering produces strength of character or that within oneself one may find inner resources to endure those afflictions that come with life. Instead, however, Paul was invited to look beyond himself and to see God’s power at work in the weakness of his human condition.
Not knowing precisely what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, Christians in every era can identify with Paul’s frustration and need of divine assistance as they face their own experience of an unwanted “thorn in the flesh.” Likewise, disciples find themselves invited to make Paul’s conclusion their own, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (12:9). Thus, God’s grace enables many in every age to conclude with Paul and proclaim, “whenever I am weak, then I am strong” (12:10).
Dying, rising with Christ
Written by Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J.,
Views : 28
Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians dwells repeatedly on the threat of suffering and imminence of death in the apostle’s life and, by extension, in that of the Christian believer.
While complex — and perhaps an amalgamation of several shorter messages — in its present form, it is a letter of consolation that illustrates how the dying and rising of Christ is mysteriously at work in the inner being of each Christian (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).
When Paul was rescued by Christ from almost certain death (1:8-11), he experienced a foretaste of the victory God would one day give him through the coming resurrection.
Paul says he once regarded Jesus only “from a human point of view.” Now, however, after many encounters with the Risen Christ he has experienced the new way of life that faith makes possible. The only way to describe this new reality is by such a formula as “a new creation.” “Everything old,” Paul declared, “has passed away; see everything has become new” (5:16-17).
This changes not only one’s perception, but one’s behaviour; so that disciples “might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and was raised for them” (5:14-15).
Paul summed up Jesus’ sympathy for human frailty and incomprehension in a paradox expressing the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ’s incarnation: “though He was rich (in divine status), yet for your sakes He became poor (in entering the human condition), so that by His poverty you might become rich” (8:9).
Something that has fascinated Christians over the centuries is the meaning of an affliction Paul referred to near the conclusion of Second Corinthians (11:16-12:10).
While speaking of mystical graces accorded him by God (“a person in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven”), Paul went on to say that to keep him from being too elated “a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me” (12:7).
Commentators have speculated on the nature of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” Identifications of it range from a bodily ailment (epilepsy, migraine, malaria, ophthalmia, a speech impediment) to something mental (bouts of depression, an experience of despair) or even spiritual (a temptation of some kind). Some focus on the term “messenger of Satan” and surmise Paul meant his persecutors or Christians who regarded him as a heretic. Whatever it was, the thorn in Paul’s flesh seems to have begun around the time of his visionary experience and continued up to the time of his writing this letter. Perhaps he needed to be brought down to Earth after his “rapture” (12:1-6).
Paul, however, did not see it that way. So, he three times prayed to be relieved of what humiliated him and seemed to interfere with the effectiveness of his ministry. The answer to Paul’s prayer taught him that the same God who had given him the spiritual experience had also given him the thorn.
Paul knew that many Corinthians — like others in the ancient world and even some people today — expected their religious leaders to have visions and revelations, tokens of God’s blessing. With this expectation, the Corinthians probably did not think visionaries would also be humbled by some affliction, an experience that we may characterize as the shame of the Cross.
Paul received his vision and revelations in the third or highest heaven, sometimes called Paradise. Paul did nothing to bring about such a mystical experience. Rather, it was given him by God. Nor would Paul permit himself to speak boastfully about it. For he had “heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat” (12:4).
Paul’s mystical journey came about entirely by God’s grace. Remarkably, the thorn in his flesh occasioned another revelation. In reply to Paul’s prayer, “the Lord” — doubtless this refers to Jesus — taught Paul a profound lesson, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (12:8-9).
Paul could have learned many lessons from suffering: that, borne patiently, suffering produces strength of character or that within oneself one may find inner resources to endure those afflictions that come with life. Instead, however, Paul was invited to look beyond himself and to see God’s power at work in the weakness of his human condition.
Not knowing precisely what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, Christians in every era can identify with Paul’s frustration and need of divine assistance as they face their own experience of an unwanted “thorn in the flesh.” Likewise, disciples find themselves invited to make Paul’s conclusion their own, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (12:9). Thus, God’s grace enables many in every age to conclude with Paul and proclaim, “whenever I am weak, then I am strong” (12:10).
posted by angelo at 7:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home