Extraordinary graces
1 It is useless to boast; but if I have to, I will go on to some visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I know a certain Christian: fourteen years ago he was taken up to the third heaven.
3 Whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows. But I know that this man, whether in the body or out of the body – I do not know, God knows –
4 was tak en up to Paradise where he heard words that cannot be told: things which humans cannot express.
5 Of that man I can indeed boast, but of myself I will not boast except of my weaknesses.
6 If I wanted to boast, it would not be foolish of me, for I would speak the truth.
7 How ever, I better give up lest somebody think more of me than what is seen in me or heard from me. Lest I become proud after so many and extra ordinary revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a true messenger of Satan, to slap me in the face.
8 Three times I prayed to the Lord that it leave me,
9 but he answered, “My grace is enough for you; my great strength is revealed in weakness.”
Gladly, then, will I boast of my weakness that the strength of Christ may be mine.
10 So I rejoice when I suffer infirmities, humiliations, want, persecutions: all for Christ! For when I am weak, then I am strong.
11 I have acted as a fool but you forced me. You should have been the ones commending me. Yet I do not feel outdone by those super-apostles,
12 even though I am nothing. All the signs of a true apostle are found in me: pa tience in all trials, signs, miracles and wonders.
13 Now, in what way were you not treated like the rest of the churches? Only in this: I was not a burden to you – forgive me for this offense!
This is my third visit to you
14 For the third time I plan to visit you, and I will not be a burden to you, for I am not interested in what you have but only in you. Children should not have to col lect money for their parents, but the parents for their children.
15 As for me, I am ready to spend what ever I have and even my whole self for all of you. If I love you so much, am I to be loved less?
16 Well, I was not a burden to you, but was it not a trick to de ceive you? Tell me:
17 Did I take money from you through any of my messengers?
18 I asked Titus to go to you and I sent ano ther brother with him. But did Titus take money from you? Have we not both acted in the same spirit?
19 Perhaps you think that we are again apologizing; but no: we speak in Christ and before God, and I do this for you, dear friends, to build you up.
20 I fear that if I go and see you, I might not find you as I would wish, and you in turn, might not find me to your liking. I might see rivalries, envy, grudges, disputes, slanders, gossip, conceit, disorder.
21 Let it not be that in coming again to you, God humble me because of you and I have to grieve over so many of you who live in sin, on seeing that they have not yet given up an impure way of living, their wicked conduct and the vices they formerly practiced.
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Comments 2 Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 12
• 12.1 APOSTOLATE AND CONTEMPLATION
Here Paul briefly alludes to the ecstasies through which he has been formed anew. The word ecstasy seems to many people rather eccentric; for others it is only appropriate for contemplative living apart from the world. It is quite true that ecstasy, if genuine, is relevant to contemplative life. But what is contemplation?
By “contemplation” we often understand the time given to meditation on the things of God and the discovery of his presence in our lives. In this sense we oppose contemplation to action, or we say that both should go together. Yet the word “contemplation” also and more rightly denotes a new stage in spiritual life where the relationship between our spirit and God are profoundly changed.
In this contemplation, it is not we who discover God or who establish ourselves in silence. God is the one who imposes his presence, who, in us, gives birth to our response. Contemplation is a gift of God; it is a way of knowing God, of being guided, reformed by him that is different from what the majority of Christians experience. It is not exceptional. The transforming and sovereign action of the Spirit is there more efficacious, leading always to the same end: the individual no longer belongs to himself.
This contemplation may be given to those who have retired to convents to answer a call from God; it may be given to those who live the normal life of most people; it is given to apostles. Differing from the practice of transcendental meditation and recollection that come from the East, it eludes our efforts; it is not a matter of leading either a more active or a more retired life. What is essential is that God has taken possession of our liberty (see Jer 1:5).
If Paul has been the apostle we know, if he has had an exceptional understanding of the Christian mystery, it is because he has been a great contemplative – in the sense we have just given. The ecstasies about which he has spoken correspond to the early years following his conversion (see Acts 22:6 and 17); they are proper to an advanced stage of contemplative life, but not the last, which is total and constant union with God.
I was given a thorn in my flesh. Many hypotheses have been offered on what this thorn could be: an illness perhaps (2 Cor 1:8; Gal 4:13) of which the unforeseen relapses reduced him to powerlessness? Or a temptation of the “flesh,” a late consequence of his moral education as rigid as the commandments of the Law? What is certain is that we all aspire to a state of peace in which we feel sure of ourselves, but God for his part, whatever the richness of his gifts, refuses to grant it (1 Cor 2:5; 4:7).
• 14. Paul ends his letter in affirming his authority. Jesus had spoken of a testimony coming both from the apostles and the Holy Spirit; in the same way Paul ends his defense appealing to a discernment which will be the work of the Spirit: verify, examine, recognize. Without a doubt it should be the same in the Church and at all levels; we cannot resolve conflicts or decide on orientation by arguments or votes only. We must necessarily have, be sides reflection, times of silence, of true prayer and listening to the word of God.
Notice the “trinitarian” formula in 13:13.