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Day 26

A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (4:7-12)

We have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

From his Commentary on Romans by Origen of Alexandria

Pondering deeply on the Apostle’s words about being buried with Christ in Baptism we can gather this: that just as no one who is still alive can be buried with someone who is dead, so no one who is still alive to sin can through Baptism be buried with Christ who is dead to sin. Therefore those who are hastening to Baptism take care that they die to sin beforehand, and are thus able to be buried with Christ in Baptism; then they too will have the right to say, We always carry about in our body the death of Jesus Christ, so that in our mortal flesh the life of Jesus Christ may be manifested.

Now Paul himself shows how the life of Jesus Christ is manifested in the body when he says, I live, but it is no longer I: it is Christ who lives in me. The Apostle John is saying the same thing when he writes in his letter, Every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. Of course this does not imply that any person who has pronounced these syllables and uttered them in a public profession of faith will be deemed to be moved by the Spirit of God; it refers rather to one who has shaped his life in such a way, and borne such fruit in good works, as to demonstrate by the very religious value of his actions and sensitivity that Christ has come in the flesh, has died to sin and is alive to God.

Let us look now at a further saying of Paul’s: So that as Christ rose from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too may walk in newness of life. If we have been buried with Christ in the sense already mentioned – that is, by the fact that we have died to sin – then it certainly follows that as Christ rises from the dead we too shall rise together with him; as he ascends to heaven we too shall ascend together with him; as he sits at the right hand of the Father, we too shall be said to sit with him in heaven. Indeed, the same Apostle teaches elsewhere: He has raised us with Christ, and made us sit together with him in the heavenly places. Christ rose through the Father’s glory; if we too have died to sin and been buried with Christ, if all who see our good works glorify our Father in heaven, then it can rightly be said of us that we have risen with Christ by the Father’s glory, to walk in newness of life.

Let us walk then in newness of life, showing ourselves new every day to him who has raised us to life with Christ; new, and, if I may so put it, daily more beautiful, as our faces reflect the radiance of Christ. As we gaze on the glory of the Lord, in him let us be transformed into his likeness, for Christ, having risen from the dead and from his earthly abasement, has ascended to the glorious majesty of the Father.

Musical Selection (John Foley)

We hold a treasure, not made of gold,

In earthen vessels, wealth untold,

One treasure only: the Lord, the Christ,

In earthen vessels.

Light has shone in our darkness:

God has shown in our heart,

With the light of the glory

of Jesus, the Lord.

He has chosen the lowly,

who are small in this world;

In his weakness is glory,

in Jesus the Lord.

Prayer

Almighty and eternal God,

life of those destined to die

and joy of all the saints,

hear our prayers for your servants;

grant that, freed now from the bonds of death,

they may possess the eternal glory of your kingdom.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever. Amen.

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