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2 Cor 3:4.Through Christ we have
full confidence in God, ... in the Spirit |
Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year II Tuesday
First Reading
2 Corinthians 2:12-2:6
Through Christ we have full confidence in God, + who has made
us suitable ministers of his new covenant, not of a written code but in the Spirit.
V. We know that we cannot of ourselves take credit for anything, for all of our sufficiency comes from
God, + who has made ...
Second
Reading
From a homily by Ralph the Fervent
(Horn. In Epist. et Evang. Domini XXVI: PL 155, 2033-2035)
Confidence in God
Such is the confidence we have in God through Christ; not that we
are capable of thinking anything by ourselves as if it came from ourselves, but
our capacity comes from God. The apostle tells us three things about confidence: whom we are
to have confidence in, through whom, and what kind of confidence. He shows us whom
we are to have confidence in, saying: in God. He himself, he says, has
confidence in God, and he teaches us to have the same by his own example. For
God alone is able to save us, and truly loves us and is truthful, whereas worldly
kings, princes, relations and friends can save neither themselves nor us. Hence
the psalmist's words: Put no trust in princes or in any human being, in whom
there is no security. Their breath will leave them, and they will return to their
own earth. But neither do they truly love, since none of our worldly friends
love us for our own good but rather for theirs. It is only God who loves us not
for his own advantage but ours. Again they are not even truthful, since it is written:
Every man and woman is a liar. But God is truthful. Therefore, my friends,
we must put the whole of our trust in God alone, not in anything transient; for
relations, friends and all transient things deceive us. God alone never abandons
those who hope in him. Hence it is written: Has anyone ever hoped in the Lord,
and been put to shame? And David says: For me it is good to cling to God,
to put my hope in the Lord my God.
He shows us through whom we are to have confidence, saying: through
Christ. For it is only through Christ that we have access to the Father. It
is he who reconciles and mediates between God and humanity, and is always interceding
for us, insofar as he is man, and like the Father saves us, insofar as he is God.
Therefore, my friends, we must love him with all our heart, for, as the apostle
says, there is no other name in heaven or on earth by which we are destined to
be saved.
As to what kind of confidence we should have in God, this he shows
us in saying: not that we are capable of thinking anything by ourselves. He
means: we have no confidence in ourselves, neither complete nor partial, as some
people usually have, but total confidence, and about everything, in God. For such
is our trust in God that we have no confidence that comes from ourselves even
in thinking, speaking or doing anything at all, but it comes from God. And so he
confounds those who rely on their own free will, or their own talents, strength
or wealth, since it is written: A king is not saved by his own great power;
nor can a giant be saved by his own immense strength. And elsewhere: Those
who trust in their own wealth are certain to be ruined. But our capacity comes from God,
as regards everything good,
of course. For we cannot enjoy anything good, either material, spiritual or heavenly,
except through him. And unless he works through us, our own lab or for material
things, our devotion to spiritual things and our effort to obtain the rewards of
heaven are useless. Hence Christ's words to his disciples: Without me you can do nothing.
Responsory Ps 68:3; 1 Cor 2:9
The righteous shall rejoice before God, + they shall exult and dance for joy.
V. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor human heart conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. + They shall exult ...
Ralph
the Fervent (d.1101 ) was a conscientious, erudite cure in the former diocese of Poitiers, who earned the sobriquet "ardens" by the ardor of his parochial sermons of which more than two hundred survive. They show a methodical treatment of the epistles and gospels of Sundays and greater feasts, emphasizing points of dogma and morals with frequent illustration from scripture and drawing widely on the Fathers and a variety of other authors. Although he was no respecter of persons and did not hesitate to reprove the great, the dissolute troubadour Count William IX of Poitiers, Duke of Aquitaine, included him in his court because of his great reputation. Ralph died in the Holy Land while on a crusade with the Count. Two books of letters and a history of crusading have not survived, but three manuscript copies of a theological summa have been preserved.
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