Divine and human mercy

Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

On Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time our church invites us to reflect on a passage from the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians (8:1-24) entitled “Paul requests a collection for the relief of Jerusalem”. Our treasure, which follows, is from a sermon by Saint Caesarius of Arles, bishop.

The Second Letter to the Corinthians is the most personal of all of Paul’s extant writings, and it reveals much about his character. In it he deals with one or more crises that have arisen in the Corinthian church. The confrontation with these problems caused him to reflect deeply on his relationship with the community and to speak about it frankly. One moment he is venting his feelings of frustration and uncertainty, the next he is pouring out his relief and affection. The importance of the issues at stake between them calls forth from him an enormous effort of personal persuasion, as well as doctrinal considerations that are of great value for us.

Caesarius of Arles was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Merovingian Gall (a period of time when there was a growing congruence between church and state). Caesarius is considered to be of the last generation of church leaders of Gaul who worked to integrate large-scale ascetic elements into the Western Christian tradition. Caesarius developed the reputation of a "popular preacher of great fervor and enduring influence".