Monday of the
Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
(II Corinthians 1:1-7; Matthew 5:1-12)
“We’re number one! We’re number one!” college students love
to brag when their team wins a game that thrusts it to the top of a football or
basketball poll. Losers are never so
cheered. They take consolation in that
they played well, abided by all the rules, and emerge as better people in the
much more important sojourn of life. In today’s first reading Paul describes
such a consolation for the church at Corinth.
Because Christians in Corinth are a minority, they no
doubt suffer the disdain of the powerful.
They also face interior division over beliefs and loyalties. The letter does not spell out exactly the nature
of these problems. It could be that Jewish-Christian
preachers from Palestine were preaching adherence to the Law. Another possibility is that Greek charismatic
preachers were giving divisive interpretations to the gifts of the Spirit. In any case, Paul reminds his readers that in
Christ’s sufferings they as well as he find comfort. After all, Christ’ humiliating death on the
cross led to his resurrection and glory.
None of us likes to suffer. But we can bear with suffering if it has
positive significance. We will find that
significance when we bind ourselves closely to Christ. In him even the suffering brought about by
our own faults redounds for our eternal benefit. When we suffer, let us turn to the crucifix
and offer our pain as an act of solidarity with him.
