Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

2 Corinthians 11,18.21-30

So many people boast on merely human grounds that I shall too. I say it to your shame; perhaps we have been too weak. Whatever bold claims anyone makes -- now I am talking as a fool -- I can make them too. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I speak in utter folly -- I am too, and more than they are: I have done more work, I have been in prison more, I have been flogged more severely, many times exposed to death. Five times I have been given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked, and once I have been in the open sea for a night and a day; continually travelling, I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from brigands, in danger from my own people and in danger from the gentiles, in danger in the towns and in danger in the open country, in danger at sea and in danger from people masquerading as brothers; I have worked with unsparing energy, for many nights without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty, and often altogether without food or drink; I have been cold and lacked clothing. And, besides all the external things, there is, day in day out, the pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. If anyone weakens, I am weakened as well; and when anyone is made to fall, I burn in agony myself. If I have to boast, I will boast of all the ways in which I am weak.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Paul's boasting reveals his weakness on the one hand and on the other, the strength of the Lord. Paul is not inferior to the "super apostles": he is of Jewish origin, belongs to Israel and is also a son of Abraham and heir of the messianic promise. Paul is proud to be a Jew; he boasts about growing at the school of one of the greatest scholars of the time, Gamaliel. And if this is his boasting in his origins, much higher is that of belonging to Christ. The apostle writes to the community that he is the minister of Christ in a much higher way than his opponents. He had already written to them about the other apostles: "I worked harder than any of them" (1 Cor 15:10). Now he can assert it with even greater force in comparison with the false prophets and says to the Corinthians: "For you put up with it when someone makes slaves of you, or preys upon you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or gives you a slap in the face." And here, with extraordinary passion, the apostle enumerates what he has suffered in order to proclaim the Gospel that was revealed to him. But throughout this long list of pains and difficulties, the apostle reminds himself, the Corinthians and us, that it was the Lord who supported and helped him. This is why he can say: "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness" (v. 30). It is from this consciousness that one recognizes the true apostle and servant of Christ. The boasting of the apostle, the boasting of all of us, is in our weakness, because it manifests the grace and power of the Lord.