…in everything we
commend ourselves as ministers of God, through much endurance, in afflictions, hardships, constraints, beatings,
imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts; by purity, knowledge, patience,
kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech, in the
power of God…[1]
In this passage, St. Paul is telling
us what it means to be Catholic. We must
remember that, because of his love, Jesus suffered. Because the Catholic Church is the Body of
Christ, out of love, the Church must also suffer. Because we, as individuals, are part of this
living organism, the Body of Christ, out of love we must also suffer. This causes us to understand what the apostle
is speaking of.
Through much endurance—of
suffering—he exhibits his love of neighbor although they afflict him. Although he is imprisoned, he exhibits the
love of God which abides in him, which impels him. We see this when he and Silas were imprisoned
and the doors opened as a result of an earthquake but would not escape for the
sake of the jailer. In short, this
passage teaches us how to be humble, how to love God with all our heart, mind,
soul, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Of particular note is “unfeigned
love.” Oftentimes, we consider being
nice and tolerant as being love. This is
not necessarily true. Many times, this
will fall under “feigned love.” Love has
to do with what is good, beneficial, for others. As we see in Jesus, there are times
when—because of love—we need to be firm, hard.
We exhibit God’s power in us when,
like the apostle, we commend ourselves “through much endurance, in afflictions,
hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts,
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love, and
in truthful speech. We also prove
ourselves as Catholics. In this way, we
prove the power of Jesus’ cross and resurrection. When we act thusly, “the Lord has made his
victory known;
has
revealed his triumph in the sight of the nations.”[2] The Catholic Church is then, universally,
being the visible Christ to the world.
The Lord is proving that “He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness
toward the house of Israel,” and “all the ends of the earth have seen
the
victory of our God.”[3]
“When
for an immense period of time, more than four thousand years, the human race
lay in misery on account of the sin of the first man, not one soul being able
to soar to his native Country, the blessed angelical spirits, we can imagine, [are] compassionate [of] so great a fall and anxious for the restoration of their own
ranks [that] when ‘the fullness of time’ had now come, assembling themselves together,
presented themselves before God, and falling down on their faces before Him,
devoutly and earnestly pressed upon Him their supplications and said, ‘O Lord,
it pleased Thy Majesty to make the rational creature, namely man, because of your
goodness, that he might be here with us, and that the restoration of our
numbers might be brought about by his presence. But behold! the whole race is perishing, and
not one is saved; and throughout the ages which are past we see our enemies
triumphing over all, when instead of our ranks being filled up; the caverns of
hell are crowded. Wherefore then, O
Lord, did you make man? ‘Why are the
souls which confess to you delivered to beasts?’ And, if this be in accord with your justice,
yet now is the time of mercy. And, if
their first parents unwarily transgressed your commandment, let your mercy come
to their help. Remember that you did
create them in your own likeness. Extend, O Lord, mercifully your hand to them
and replenish them mercifully. The eyes
of all look to you, ‘as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their
masters,’ until you will have mercy and deliver the human race by a saving
remedy’.”[4]
In this, we see the love of God at
work in the angels. We see the love of
the angels for the human race although they are more powerful than us and are
much holier than we are. Love has to be
the power of God which is at work in those who are baptized into his name. It is the power of this love which moved the
Son of God to become man and exhibit this love to all. When we exhibit this love to our neighbor, we
prove that the power of God is in us.
Anyone can say that they love God, but where is the evidence? The evidence lies in the love of neighbor. This is unfeigned love. This is the treasure we hold in earthen
vessels. Many people say they are
caring, loving, and tolerant.
Nevertheless, when things do not go their way, they hate and kill. This is feigned love. The power of God causes us to endure “afflictions,
hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love, in
truthful speech.” This power is in us by
virtue of the Sacraments; nonetheless, we must exercise them. And, even in the exercise of them, we need
the aid of God. Therefore, we must ask,
and keep asking. We know that God will answer
this because this is his will for his children.
This is being Catholic.
[1] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), 2 Co 6:4–7.
[2] Ibid.,
Ps 98:2.
[3] Ibid.,
Ps 98:3.
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