THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
First Reading: Wisdom 1: 13-15; 2: 23-24
13 For God made not death, neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living.
14 For he created all things that they might be: and he made the nations of the earth for health: and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor kingdom of hell upon the earth.
15 For justice is perpetual and immortal.
2:23 For God created man incorruptible, and to the image of his own likeness he made him.
24 But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world: And they follow him that are of his side.
Commentary
Creation begins not with death but with life. God created man incorruptible out of love in order to share in His own manner of being: perfect and immortal, but this does not obliterate the existence of the lurer ,the devil who brings sin and therefore death. We cannot rule out the existence of sin,death and hell because God is love but man is free and can choose not to follow God.
I
Second Reading: Second Corinthians 8: 7, 9, 13-15
7 That as in all things you abound in faith, and word, and knowledge, and all carefulness; moreover also in your charity towards us, so in this grace also you may abound.
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that being rich he became poor, for your sakes; that through his poverty you might be rich.
13 For I mean not that others should be eased, and you burthened, but by an equality.
14 In this present time let your abundance supply their want, that their abundance also may supply your want, that there may be an equality,
15 As it is written: He that had much, had nothing over; and he that had little, had no want.
Commentary:
St. Paul is giving directions concerning the collection in Corinth. He nuances the fact that a symmetrical Christian experience is a harmonious development of life and service, of inward graces and an outward expression of them. Corinthians excelled in many ways and it would be inconsistent to neglect the grace of charity (collection). This collection is to be completed by their own free will,not because Paul requires it of them because only freewill offerings are acceptable to God. Out of their comparative poverty, the Macedonian believers are ready to respond to the plea to assist the needy at Jerusalem. Their noble example becomes a divinely appointed test for the Corinthians. Paul did not appeal to pride,vanity, selfish feeling or a spirit of rivalry and competition in order to urge the Corinthians to do something that more worthy motives would not lead them to do. The emulation of noble lives is never an appeal to rivalry but it does test the depth and genuineness of ones love and devotion. This elevated principle of comparison provides a valuable means of spiritual discipline. The collection would provide an ideal opportunity to demonstrate genuineness of their love. The Lord is gracious and the grace of Christ must control the heart and will. It is never effective so long as it remains an intellectual concept only. No divine truth is known merely by an intellectual understanding of it. The supreme acts of Christ, His Incarnation and Crucifixion, are attributed to grace only. These acts constituted the supreme manifestations of divine love and condescension. Paul compares the supreme sacrifice of Christ with man’s incomparably infinitesimal acts of charity. Jesus was rich (an allusion to Christ’s preincarnate existence), but His earthly life was ever one of extreme poverty. His riches consisted of the nature and attributes of deity,of countless millions of worlds, of adoration and loyalty of multitudes of angels. This Jesus became poor: He completely emptied Himself that He retained nothing of the riches that were once His. He took upon Himself human nature and became subject to the limitations of humanity, so that we might be rich: with sin man lost his home,his domain his character and even life itself, spending his life seeking false riches. Christ came to deliver man from His poverty which results from seeking false riches. In and through Christ, men are able to discern the true value of things and receive the privilege of becoming rich in Christ Jesus. Paul says ‘this is expedient’ : a vow made to God cannot be repudiated without involving a mans Christian integrity. One opens himself to criticism. The will must be embodied in deeds if our best desires and energies are to give solidity and strength to the character. It is good to cherish the ideal of charity, but the ideal must find practical expression. Faith and Love,as ideals ,never feed the hungry or clothe the naked. Readiness then is a spontaneous disposition and attitude of mind to serve God and ones fellow men. It has no need of being urged or driven forward by the importunity of others. It is the sincere willingness of the mind that determines the acceptableness of the gift of God. The Catholic Social Teaching and the Scriptures recognize the right to private property and the right that all contributions shall be voluntary, but it also condemns the selfish and heartless neglect of the poor and the needy.
