Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I would like to draw your attention to the very first sentence of today’s second reading; “As you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also.” (2 Cor 8:7) It is the “gracious act” that I would like to focus on. What is the gracious act that Paul is referring to?
We must remember that unlike the Church we know today, the early Christian churches were very poor because it was the poor that formed bulk of the members. Christianity was not popular among upper classes of Roman society. Christians could not also hold Roman offices since that automatically implied emperor worship. The church in Jerusalem was particularly poor because persecution against Christians had led them to flee the city. In this context, Paul asked the other churches to support the church in Jerusalem. The Corinthians had started a collection but even after a year they had not completed the project. The Macedonians, on the other hand, had been exemplary in the way their collection had been completed. In today’s reading, Paul is encouraging the community which excels in faith, discourse, knowledge and earnestness, to also excel in the gracious act of supporting the church in Jerusalem just as the Macedonians had done.
Paul does not end there. He provides the theological reasons for this graciousness: “For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” He was asking the Corinthian community to reflect on the graciousness of God.
We have two stories of God’s graciousness through Christ in today’s gospel reading: the raising of the dead girl and the healing of the woman with the hemorrhage. I think the graciousness of Jesus lies not just in the fact of the healing but in the smaller details. Jesus had just performed other healings on the other side of the lake. He had crossed over to this side to escape the crowds. The crowds followed him and there was no rest of relief for him. He must now go to heal a girl of her fever. But he goes without complaining. His journey is intervened by a hemorrhaging woman. But Jesus takes the time to talk to her, calls her daughter and offers her not just healing but salvation. He brings to completion that task he has set out to complete. This task, as Paul would say, will only be completed on the cross. And what Christ did on the cross became the climax of graciousness of God in Christ.
Today, Paul is urging us, just as he did with the Corinthians to imitate the graciousness of God. I think there are three ways in which we can accomplish it.
- Bringing work to completion. Part of the reason Paul writes to the people about the “gracious act” is because the Corinthians had failed to bring the collection for Jerusalem to completion even after a year. For Paul, one area where graciousness can be practiced is at work. Many of us can go home at look at some work that needed to be completed and we never got to it. May be you promised your wife you would fix dinner one night, or promised your husband that you would get the closet cleaned, or your promised your parents you would get good grades, or promised your boss that you will meet the deadline and you never did. Paul would say, “excel in the gracious act.” That is what Jesus did. God sent him for accomplish the work of salvation. This work took the life out of him but be brought to completion the task of redemption.
- Graciousness and Christian Virtues. Graciousness is not mentioned anywhere in the New Testament as a virtue. The virtues that Paul mentions in Galatians are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness and self-control. But I think it takes graciousness to practice these virtues and the practice of these virtues makes us gracious people. It takes graciousness to smile at the person who flips you because you are driving the speed limit. It takes graciousness to stay quiet and let truth speak for itself when people malign your name. It takes graciousness to be patient and faith filled when things are not going our way. It takes a gracious person to open his or her eyes to the needs of the poor around the globe.
- Graciousness and Financial Resources. For Paul, the graciousness of the people of Corinth also depended on their financial commitment to the church and the poor Christians in Jerusalem. I think that we are generally uncomfortable about talking finances in the church. The way I do this in my own life – my financial support of the church and the poor is a concrete indicator of my kindness, love, and generosity. My tax statement indicates in black and white my commitment to the church and the poor versus my commitment to my own needs. Money is not everything, but it sure can prove character. And I am saying that it takes a gracious person to care for the church and the poor in a selfless manner.
Today we bring bread and wine to the altar. The reason we have these gifts and the reason why it becomes life-giving for us is because of God’s gracious act. As we participate in these acts may we become gracious disciples, Amen.
Fr. Satish Joseph