For
Love of Christ,
Paul bore every burden
From
a homily by
Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
Paul, more than anyone else, has shown us what man really
is, and in what our nobility consists and of what virtue this particular animal
is capable. Each day he aimed ever
higher; each day he rose up with greater ardor and faced with new eagerness the
dangers that threatened him.
He summed
up his attitude in the words: I forget what is behind me and push on to
what lies ahead. When he saw death
imminent, he had others share his joy: Rejoice and be glad with me! And when danger, injustice and abuse
threatened, he said: I am content with weakness, mistreatment and
persecution. These he called the
weapons of righteousness, thus telling us that he derived immense profit from
them.
Thus, amid the traps set for him by his enemies, with
exultant heart he turned their every attack into a victory for himself; constantly
beaten, abused and cursed, he boasted of it as though he were celebrating a triumphant
procession and taking trophies home, and offered thanks to God for it all: Thanks be to God who is always victorious in
us!
This is why he was far more
eager for the shameful abuse that his zeal in preaching brought upon him than
we are the most pleasing honors, more eager for death than we are for life, for
poverty than we are for wealth; he yearned for toil far more than others yearn
for rest after toil.
The one thing he
feared, indeed dreaded,
was to offend God;
nothing else could sway him.
Therefore, the only thing
he really wanted was always to please God.
The most important thing of all to him, however, was that he
knew himself to be loved by Christ.
Enjoying this love, he considered himself happier than anyone else; were
he without it, it would be no satisfaction to be the friend of principalities
and powers. He preferred to be thus
loved and be the least of all, or even to be among the damned, than to be
without that love and be among the great and honored.
To be separated from that love
was, in his eyes,
the
greatest and most
extraordinary of torments;
the pain of that loss
would alone
have been hell,
and endless, unbearable torture.
So too, in being loved by Christ he thought of himself as
possessing life, the world, the angels, present and future, the kingdom, the
promise and countless blessings. Apart
from that love nothing saddened or delighted him; for nothing earthly did he regard as bitter or
sweet.
Paul set no store by the things that fill our visible world,
any more than a man sets value on the withered grass of the field. As for tyrannical ruler or the people enraged
against him, he paid them no more heed than gnats.
Death itself and pain and whatever torments might come were
but child’s play to him, provided that thereby he might bear some burden for
the sake of Christ.
Taken from the Liturgy of the Hours, Conversion of Paul January 25
 |
| St. Paul preaching in Athens by Raphael |
St. Paul Teaches Us That ...
1 Cor. 1:23- Paul preaches a Christ crucified, not just
risen. Catholic spirituality focuses on the sacrifice of Christ which is the
only means to the resurrection. This is why Catholic churches have crucifixes
with the corpus of Jesus affixed to them. Many Protestant churches no longer
display the corpus of Jesus (only an empty cross). Thus, they only preach a
Christ risen, not crucified.
1 Cor. 2:2 – Paul preaches Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
While the cross was the scandal of scandals, and is viewed by the non-Christian
eye as defeat, Catholic spirituality has always exalted the paradox of the
cross as the true tree of life and our means to salvation.
2 Cor. 1:5-7- if we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings,
so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort as well. If we unite our
sufferings with His, we will be comforted by Him.
2 Cor. 4:10 – Paul writes that we always carry in the body
the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our
bodies. Christ has allowed room in His Body for our sufferings, and our
sufferings allow room for Christ to bring us to life.
2 Cor. 4:11 – while we live we are always being given up to
death for Jesus’ sake so that His life may be manifested in our flesh. This
proves the Catholic position that our sufferings on earth are united with Jesus
in order to bring about Jesus’ life in us.
Phil. 1:29 – for the sake of Christ we are not only to
believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake. Growing in holiness requires
more than having faith in God and accepting Jesus as personal Lord and Savior.
We must also willfully embrace the suffering that befalls us as part of God’s
plan. Thus, Christ does not want our faith alone, but our faith in action which
includes faith in suffering.
Phil. 3:10 – Paul desires to share in Christ’s sufferings in
order to obtain the resurrection. Paul recognizes the efficacy of suffering as
a means of obtaining holiness which leads to resurrection and eternal life.
There is no Easter Sunday
without Good Friday.
Excerpts from Scripture Catholic https://www.scripturecatholic.com/suffering/
