Word to the Wise
Friday, June 13, 2025 - Friday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Cor 4:7-15 and Matt 5:27-32]We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. [2 Corinthians]
JUNE 13, ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA, priest and doctor of the church
The Second Letter to the Corinthians is one of St. Paul's most personal letters. In this letter, among other things, , he addresses the basic question of why anyone would undertake the ministry that he has undertaken, especially given the hardships that he outlines later in the letter [11:24-29]. Is it simply a matter of HIS considerable individual religious faith and zeal? There IS that factor, indeed, but the letter is not meant only as a defense of his ministry. It is a challenge for all of us to remember that the treasure we have as a result of our baptism means that the "earthen vessels" which are our individual bodies are visible manifestations of the Body of Christ. We are not mere symbols. In his earlier 1st Letter to the Corinthians [6:19], he refers to the bodies of believers as "temples of the Holy Spirit." Yes, Corinth was a large port city and was notorious in its own day for an "anything goes" attitude in regard to morality or worship, but that does not mean we are entitled to dismiss Paul's challenges.
Aging is a good way to become acquainted with the "earthenware vessel" of the body, but as soon as we reach the age of reason, we become aware of the tension between mind and body, especially in matters of faith and morals. St. Paul himself in Romans 7:15-25 agonizes over the effort to do good and failing at it. The wisdom of the power to forgive sin which Christ has given to the Church comes into play as one way of continually renewing our efforts to remain faithful stewards of our bodies and of the treasure that we contain and manifest in good times and bad, in suffering and in joy. But it is the everyday effort that bears fruit in the long run. We are in good company with St. Paul! AMEN