(1Cor 10,1-6.10-12)

3rd Sunday in Lent (year C)

1Corinthians 10:1 For I do not want you to be ignorant, O brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, all crossed the sea,

1Corinthians 10:2 all were baptized in relation to Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

Paul, in this passage, refers us to the history of the past, to the lesson of history. He reminds us of the deeper meaning of history, which is the history of salvation. It is said that history is a teacher of life, but the pupils learn nothing. Paul instead says that from the history of Israel one must learn. The history of Israel is not just any history, but it is a way in which divine revelation was historically manifested. Revelation, in fact, was not manifested through the explanation of concepts, but through certain historical facts that are then also read and interpreted. The history of Israel is an exemplary history, so it is right and proper, if one wants to understand Jesus Christ, to see all the sacred history that prepares him. Among other things, this also accustoms us to reading our own little personal history, which is also salvation history because the Lord walks with us.

"For I do not want you to be ignorant": The Corinthians were supposed to know the facts narrated here, but the apostle wants them to know the typological significance that these facts have, and which is not to be ignored. Jesus Christ is the end result of a long journey, and we must know the journey that preceded it. Paul is very respectful of Israel's history and feels he must tell it. He refers us to these examples from the past that are extraordinary events, but they are also events of sin, and yet always instructive because they show what God's way is.

"Our fathers". Christians can consider the ancient Israelites as their fathers, because the Church succeeded the synagogue, and they are the true heirs and children of Abraham.

"They were all": Three times Paul repeats this expression. As if to say that salvation had been given to all. For all were led by the cloud, that is, by the presence of God, and all crossed the sea. All gained freedom from slavery and all were guided by God on the way to the promised land. Hence, on God's part, no exclusion, no preference towards some at the expense of others. He brought all his people out of Egypt, for all he parted the sea, for all he willed the cloud. All were in the condition of grace and truth that would enable them to conquer the promised land and possess it forever.

This universality of grace and truth for Paul is akin to a baptism. There is an immersion also of the children of Israel, even though their baptism is merely a figure of that instituted by Jesus Christ. However, there is a true immersion of the Israelites in the sea and in the 'cloud' and this immersion for them is true salvation, true deliverance.

Israel lived under the cloud, that mysterious cloud that guided the Israelites through the desert and sheltered them from the sun: signifying the presence of God, the Shekinah. To be under the cloud is to be under God's protection. They crossed the sea and were baptised: the passage from the land of slavery, which is Egypt, to the promised land, takes place through the crossing of the Red Sea, and this is a baptism because it signifies the detachment from the slavery of Egypt, liberation and purification, and the journey to the promised land.

"To be of Moses". Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, was a figure of Jesus Christ, and the Israelites led by him to the promised land were a figure of the Christians led by Jesus Christ to heaven. Now, just as Christians through baptism are incorporated into Jesus Christ and made subject to him as their Lord, whose laws they are bound to observe, so for the Israelites the mysterious cloud and the crossing of the Red Sea were a kind of baptism, whereby they remained subject to Moses and obliged to observe his laws. From that moment on, the people were separated from Egypt forever and belonged to the God who liberated them and to the prophet-mediator whom God gave them as their leader.

The mysterious cloud, a perceptible sign of God's presence, and of the favour He bestowed on His people, was a figure of the Holy Spirit, who is given in the baptism of Jesus Christ, and similarly the dry-foot passage through the Red Sea and the consequent deliverance from the bondage of Pharaoh, were figures of our deliverance from the bondage of sin through the waters of baptism.

Having stated this truth, Paul reminds us that it is not enough to come out of Egypt to have the promised land. The going out is one thing, the conquest and possession of the land is another. Between going out and conquering the land, there is a whole desert to cross. For the Israelites, the desert lasted for forty years; for Christians it lasts their whole life.

With baptism we come out of the slavery of sin, with a life of perseverance striving to conquer the kingdom of heaven we walk towards the glorious resurrection that will take place on the last day.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon) 

(Gen 15:5-12.17-18)

Genesis 15:5 Then he led him out and said to him, "Look into the sky and count the stars, if you can count them," and he added, "Such shall be your offspring."

Genesis 15:6 And he believed the LORD, who credited it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:7 And he said to him, 'I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees to give you possession of this land.

"Then he led him out and said to him, Look into the sky and count the stars, if you can count them, and he added, Such shall be your offspring." God leads Abraham out of the human way of seeing. Earthly eyes do not see so much. But when they rise up to contemplate the infinite, God's promise takes on its full value and scope. The foundation is laid for a salvation that concerns man and is infinitely above created reality. 

"He believed the Lord, who credited it to him as righteousness". There are three components of Abraham's faith:

(a) Abraham believes (in Hebrew, the verb believe is "'āman" the same one that gives rise to the amen with which we conclude our prayers and means "to lean on...", "to trust in...". The patriarch trusts God and consigns himself and his future to him.

b) God "credited" this to him. The verb "accredit" is "ḥāšav", it is used in the Bible to indicate validly performed sacrifices. The new, true sacrifice to be offered to God is therefore the inner act of faith. It is no longer by grace that the Lord will give Abraham a numerous offspring. He will give it to him out of righteousness. God does not only give out of grace, he also gives out of righteousness.

c) "...as justice": Abraham becomes "righteous", that is, faithful to the covenant commitment that binds him to his God: faithful and righteous.

In what did Abraham believe? Not in a lineage limited and finite in time, but in an eternal lineage. And with that, the promise of a descendants becomes in itself the promise of salvation. In time, the figure of this salvation, which in reality will be a Saviour, will become more and more clearly delineated and manifested.

The act by virtue of which Abraham believed is the emblem and model of faith pleasing to God. Henceforth Abraham will live only by this divine promise, beyond and above all human appearances. It is not enough to come out of a world of perdition to find oneself immediately in a world of salvation. There is a time of patient waiting, of obedience, of perseverance, without which the journey stops halfway.

"And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee possession of this land". God tells Abraham that he was brought out of Ur of the Chaldees precisely to possess the land of Canaan. The first step of faith, which is that of coming out, seems to be attributable solely to the work of God. Abraham was brought out of Ur. It is not imputed to him in justice that he came out of the old life, but that he entered into the new one, which is faith in God's promise, faith in the future coming of a Saviour.

Some might say: I believe in the existence of God, therefore I have faith in God. Believing that God exists does not necessarily entail a life of faith. Mere belief in the existence of God does not bring one into the life of God. True faith is more than mere mental assent to God's existence, it brings with it a radical change in how one stands before Him. Not to the God of my own thinking, but to the God who has historically manifested Himself. It is not enough to believe in a Creator God, we must believe in a God who is also Saviour.

And here the discourse of faith does not admit plurality of faiths. Faith, while presupposing the historical event of the death and resurrection of Christ, descendant of Abraham, Saviour of the world, necessarily entails the proclamation of this event, what we call by the name of Gospel. There can be no ecumenism unless we place before everyone the need for knowledge of the Gospel. One dialogues by announcing and one announces by dialoguing. Dialogue is not the search for a solution and a compromise that will please everyone, but to pass on the Word of God, the only one that saves, through the forms in which man can make it his own. Ecumenism must only deal with the form of the proclamation, it cannot and must not alter its substance.

There is only one door that leads to Paradise and that is the one opened by Christ and guarded by Peter. It is one thing to reflect on how the Gospel can be proclaimed to all, quite another to discuss salvation outside of Christ. One dialogues with those who do not believe for the purpose of proclaiming, one does not argue for failure to proclaim. There is no such thing as the good faith of those who do not believe; there is, and this is a fact, the bad faith of those who are deceived by Satan. Too many people believe in their own sincerity, goodness, to justify non-belief.

Why do we find the model of true faith in Abraham? Because listening to the Word of God in him overcomes and bypasses the ways of reason and the heart. Those who seek God must turn away and be wary of a faith other than that of Abraham. A precondition of faith is the willingness to come out of the old life (Ur of the Chaldees) and enter the new one (the promised land). He does not enter who has not gone out, and he has not gone out except he who is aware of sin. Having entered the faith in itself does not guarantee remaining in the faith. One can also fail and not be persevering to the end. 

For many Catholics, all it takes is Sunday Mass, confession once a year, a few good works, not killing, not stealing... and everything is done. What is missing is the idea that being a Christian means living for Christ and not for oneself. As far as the Protestant church is concerned, the affirmation of a salvation that is given solely and exclusively by faith in Christ, is resolved in the easy psychological type of faith, as the conviction that we are only asked to accept with our hearts and minds the salvation wrought by Jesus. And if we sin we can rest easy, because eternal life is already given by divine election. If salvation is already given and assured, we can also set aside the instruments and gifts of grace bestowed by Christ through his Church and Tradition, the only guarantees of a correct understanding and a true relationship with Revelation.

In Protestantism, it is enough to appeal to one's own conscience, on a path of self-confirmation and self-approval. All by oneself, on one's own, without effort, without being disturbed in one's convictions, in a maximum exaltation of that individualism that is increasingly asserting itself in the world as a sign of the dominion of the devil, prince of this world.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

(Rom 10:8-13)

Romans 10:8 What does it say then? Near you is the word, on your lips and in your heart: that is, the word of faith which we preach.

Romans 10:9 For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

"What sayest thou then? Near you is the word, on your mouth and in your heart: that is, the word of faith which we preach." As Moses said that the word, that is, the law of God, was easy to know and to keep, so Paul says the same of the gospel. If the law has Christ as its end, if everything from Christ begins and ends in Christ, if all the word of Scripture conceals Christ, all the word of Scripture conceals the gospel, to which every word of the Old Testament leads and guides. "The word of faith which we preach" are the gospel truths necessary to believe in order to attain salvation, which, through the preaching of the apostles, are within the reach of all, so that all can say that they have them in their mouths and in their hearts, and there is no need to make long journeys or to endure great hardship in order to learn them. Christ is present in the word of faith that is proclaimed by the Church.

There are three truths that we must grasp in this sentence of Paul. The first is this: the word of the gospel, which is the word of Christ, is not foreign to man, it is not distant from him, not in a spatial-temporal sense, but in an existential sense. Man's existence yearns for this word, he seeks it. After all, every human search is a search for truth. Because of sin, this search loses its essence, but it is still a search for one's own being. Man seeks himself, but he does not find himself, and he does not find himself because he cannot find himself in Christ. Only by finding Christ does man find himself, but to find Christ one must find the word of Christ.

The second truth is this: the word must be preached, announced, proclaimed, so that every man hears it and by hearing it adheres to it through faith. If preaching is lacking, then the word remains distant from man, and if the word remains distant, Christ also remains distant. When the Church has done this, it will have helped man in his search for Christ, it will have helped man to find himself, to be himself. The Church exists to give Christ. This is the purpose and mandate the Church has received. That is why preaching is the very essence of the Church. Christ gives himself through the word, and without the word, Christ does not give himself, and if he does not give himself, those who seek him seek him in vain. For this the Church is responsible. The true sin of the Church, the only one she must always repent of, is the failure to evangelise, the failure to proclaim, the failure to preach the word of Jesus.

The third truth directs us instead to 'the word of faith'. The word is of faith because it announces a mystery that only by faith can be accepted and only by faith can one adhere to it. Without faith, the word remains a mute word. Faith and word are an inseparable unity. There could be the word without faith, but faith does not reveal the mystery, because the mystery is not revealed by the word, but by the Spirit who reveals himself to the heart and only manifests himself if there is faith in the heart.

What do we see today? One observes that Christ is as if forgotten. Traces of him are being lost. The word of preaching is purged of all content inherent in Christ, his truth and grace. What prevails in many today is the proposition of an entirely human, earthly, sometimes even diabolical justice. If the preaching of faith is omitted, Christ is omitted, righteousness according to faith is omitted, grace and truth are omitted. What remains? Man and his sin remains. 

"For if thou shalt confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe with thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." He who is professed in faith is Jesus Lord. Professing with one's mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in one's heart that God raised him from the dead is the way to salvation. This means not only admitting the historical fact of the resurrection, but also accepting, from the depths of the soul, the whole work of salvation accomplished by Christ.

This confession must be an explicit testimony. Adherence to Christ can never be a private fact, lived intimately in one's own heart, in which it must still be rooted, but it must be publicly witnessed. One cannot be an anonymous Christian, a Christian of silence. The Christian is he who before the world confesses that Jesus is Lord, the Word, the only-begotten of the Father who became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary and who in his humanity and not only in his divinity was constituted Lord of every man. The term Kyrios (Lord) was used in the LXX Bible to translate YHWH and what Paul is telling us is that the confession of faith consists in believing that Jesus is the Messiah and that he is 'one' with Yahweh.

This confession must be clear-cut. There can be no gaps. That is why it is necessary for the Christian to confess with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, consubstantial with God by divine nature, consubstantial with man by human nature. If there is no right confession about the person of Jesus, one cannot be saved, because the Jesus we confess would no longer be the Jesus of God, but a Jesus modelled on human thoughts, and therefore an idol. Everything that man constructs with his mind is simply an idol, and the idol does not save. Instead, the Son of God who came in the flesh for the redemption of the world saves, and the Son of God who came in the flesh is the Lord of man.

It is not enough, however, to proclaim righteous faith with the mouth; the heart must also participate in it, and the heart participates in it by making the truth that is professed its own. From the profession of the mouth and the faith of the heart comes salvation for man. The salvation that Paul envisages is not simply deliverance from sin. Salvation is possessing the life of Christ and making this life the guiding principle of our life: actions, words, thoughts. This is why deliverance from sin alone is a very reductive concept of salvation.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books:

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

(1Cor 15,54-58)

8th Sunday O.T. (C)

1 Corinthians 15:54 When then this corruptible body is clothed with incorruption and this mortal body with immortality, the word of Scripture will be fulfilled:

Death has been swallowed up for victory.

1 Corinthians 15:55 Where, O death, is thy victory?

Where, O death, is thy sting?

1Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

1Corinthians 15:57 Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

1Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, remain steadfast and immovable, always labouring in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Until the day of the final resurrection, death will reign over this earth and submerge every man. When, on the other hand, the Lord completes his last work, then death will be submerged forever in the victory of Christ. After that, death will no longer have power, it will be defeated forever, forever annulled. Man will enter his finality, and only then will we understand what Christ has truly done for us. Death, both physical and spiritual, only Christ has conquered it, only in Him will we conquer it today and on the last day. There are no other Messiahs, no other ways, no other faiths. The only Messiah is Jesus Christ, the only way is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the only faith is the Word of the Lord, his Holy Gospel. Let those who seek elsewhere know that they will find nothing, for nothing exists.

Death will be ousted, rendered powerless, submerged by the victory of Christ. It that thought it had a deadly sting, finds itself stung by the victorious sting of Jesus Christ. She who thought she was the absolute ruler over man, by the man Jesus was defeated. It was Christ who died that overcame it with his resurrection. This is the mockery of death. Where no man could have succeeded, because he too was a prisoner and slave by birth of death, Christ triumphed. The victory of Christ is the resurrection, the cross is the victory over sin. By becoming in Christ one body and one life, we too on the cross together with Him overcome sin, and by overcoming sin we are led to complete victory over death.

For although the victory is accomplished in Christ, in His body, yet Paul says that the victory is ours: "He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The victory is ours because it will be manifested in us. We are associated with Him who has made all things.

Now, from the heart of the Christian, our hymn of thanksgiving, praise and blessing must rise up to the Father. Thanksgiving is the highest form of worship. We can only give thanks if Christ's victory has already been made ours; we give thanks for a gift that we already possess, that has already transformed us.

He gives thanks to God for such a great gift whoever commits himself, works, toils, so that Christ's victory transforms his life entirely and he becomes in the world a visible image of Christ crucified and risen, of a spiritual man, who transmits through his life the path of hope to which every man is called. Thanksgiving is thus transformed into an obligation of holiness, to which we are called by the Father who has bestowed the victory of Christ on us and waits for us to live it totally in us.

«Therefore, my beloved brethren, remain steadfast and immovable, always labouring in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord». In this concluding verse, Paul reiterates certain truths that must constitute the life of believers. The first is this: remain steadfast and immovable. In what? In the truth of Christ's resurrection and ours on the last day. The resurrection of Christ is the truth that gives consistency to all the other truths of our faith. If Christ's resurrection is not confessed with certainty of heart and mind, everything will ultimately be in vain and useless.

It is not enough, however, to remain firm and unshakable in this truth. One must be dedicated to the Lord's work. What is the work of the Lord? The fulfilment of his death and resurrection in us. Since the work of Christ was his death and resurrection, the work of the Lord for the Christian is also the fulfilment of Christ's death and resurrection in him. Christ's death is accomplished in the Christian through obedience to God's will. The work of the Lord to be done is to transform the word of Christ into life, as Christ transformed the word of the Father into life. Paul wants us to be prodigal in this work. To lavish ourselves means to spare ourselves in nothing, it means to expend all our physical and spiritual energy for the accomplishment of Christ's work in us.The third truth that we must always have in our hearts is this: whoever does the work of the Lord does the only true work, the only just work, the only holy work, the only work that has eternal value. Each of us, in every work we do, must ask ourselves whether what we do is the work of God. Only God's work is not in vain, and in doing it we do not waste our time and expend our energy uselessly. The work that will make our labour precious is only one: the fulfilment of Christ's death in us, so that his glorious resurrection on the last day may be accomplished in us.

If one sees Christianity in this way, one gives it another imprint; one gives it the imprint of seeking God's will so that it may be fulfilled in our lives. If one observes the life of a Christian community according to this vision of faith, then one becomes aware of all the vanities that surround it. Everything is done, except to fulfil each one individually and all together, each according to his part and vocation, the work of Christ, which is our death in Him in the greatest obedience to our Father who is in heaven.

True faith heals, renews existence, changes it, transforms it. Today, this is what is required of Christian communities: to start from the proclamation of true faith so that each one may begin in his or her own body the fulfilment of the Lord's work, which is the work of Christ, begun in us on the day of our baptism.

Knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. This fervour in doing good must be kindled in us by the certainty of the prize. Our labour is not in vain, for it will make us worthy of the future resurrection, provided, however, that everything is done in the Lord, that is, in intimate union with Jesus Christ.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

(1Cor 15,45-49)

1Corinthians 15:45 the first man, Adam, became a living being, but the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1Corinthians 15:46 There was not the spiritual body first, but the animal body, and then the spiritual.

1Corinthians 15:47 The first man from the earth is of the earth; the second man is from heaven.

1Corinthians 15:48 As the man made of the earth, so are they of the earth; but as the heavenly, so are they of the heavenly.

1Corinthians 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the man of earth, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

In these verses Paul delves into the Adam-Christ parallelism. Adam, the first man, because of his sin was a bringer of death, disease, suffering, pain. He was also the cause of a concupiscent body, a body that was difficult for man himself to govern. Adam instead of a father of life proved to be a father of death, instead of freedom he proved to be a father of slavery, instead of salvation he became a father of perdition.

In his infinite and eternal mercy, God had from eternity foreseen an effective remedy against the death that Adam would bring into the world. Thinking of Jesus Christ, Saviour and Redeemer, He thought of Him as the life-giving spirit in order to work our redemption. How did He work it? Through His dead and resurrected body. That body that was clothed with divine and immortal life, with glory and incorruption, the Lord gives it as our food and drink of eternal life so that we too may become partakers of it, and be clothed with it.

Adam bequeathed a body of sin. This is our condition. Only those who become one with Christ can clothe the spiritual body. If we remain outside the body of Christ, we remain in the bondage of vice and sin; we dwell in our selfishness, we spend our days driven and tossed about by the concupiscence that makes us instinctive, passionate, proud, fanatical, transgressors.

To those who ask why the spiritual state, though more perfect, came after the more imperfect animal state, the apostle answers with a general principle: the natural order dictates that we begin with what is imperfect, and then move on to what is more perfect. God wanted to follow this law, and therefore established that the more perfect spiritual state should be preceded by the imperfect animal state.

We have received an animal body; through this body, in a path of truth we are called to clothe the heavenly body. The death of Christ enables us to set out on the journey, because the Holy Spirit in the waters of baptism clothes us with Christ. It is a journey towards acquiring our true humanity. It is a long journey, not easy, it costs the sacrifice and holocaust of our lives. There is only one way: remain anchored in Christ, become one with him.

Adam came from the earth because according to the Genesis account he was moulded from the dust of the ground. This is his origin. Jesus comes from heaven as the true God. He is not from heaven as a body. He assumed the body from the blessed Virgin Mary. He too therefore has a body that was taken from the flesh of Adam, although this flesh by a singular privilege is most holy, full of grace, from the first moment of its conception. The body of Jesus Christ was born in the greatest holiness, but it is still human flesh and therefore Jesus Christ also has a body that comes from the earth, otherwise he could not have redeemed us.

"What is earthly, such also are earthly; and what is heavenly, such also shall be heavenly." Each one produces according to his nature. Adam, who was taken from the dust of the ground, begat men in his image, also made of a material body. But Christ's gift is different: through his passion, death and resurrection his body has become spiritual, glorious. His body bears within itself the perfection of the divine image. By grace we will be in all things similar to his heavenly body, if we allow ourselves to be generated by God through faith. This is the greatest act of love with which God will clothe us tomorrow, if we allow ourselves to be clothed in our souls today through conversion, faithfulness to the gospel, that is, a life wholly made up of the word of Christ.

For "as we have borne the image of the earthly, so shall we also bear the image of the heavenly. By descent from Adam we bore the image of the earthly man; so by faith we shall bear the image of the heavenly man. Christ is in the glory of his spiritualised body. This is the image with which we shall one day be clothed. Towards the fulfilment of this truth we must walk.

The present moment is the place of the passage, that is, of this gestation in which progressively our animal life, our concrete everyday life, our existence, is lived in spiritual terms. And this is already the harbinger of resurrection. Death then will not be the failure of this life, but the next passage which is all a hymn to life. In baptism we have laid down the image of the earthly man and begun to bear the image of Jesus Christ, an image that will become perfect after the resurrection.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

(1Cor 15:12.16-20)

6th Sunday in O.T. (year C)

1Corinthians 15:12 Now if it is preached that Christ rose from the dead, how can some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

1Corinthians 15:16 For if the dead rise not, neither is Christ risen;

1Corinthians 15:17 But if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain, and ye are yet in your sins.

1Corinthians 15:18 And they also that are dead in Christ are lost.

1Corinthians 15:19 If then we have had hope in Christ only in this life, we are more to be pitied than all men.

Some Corinthians held Greek ideas concerning the immortality of the soul, namely that after death the soul separated from the body to be absorbed into the divine or to continue a tenuous existence in Ades, since for the Greeks physical resurrection was impossible. Paul has already said that Jesus Christ not only rose from the dead, he was also seen risen. There were many people who had the grace to see him. Yet, some in Corinth taught that there is no resurrection of the dead. On the one hand there is the whole gospel that is founded on the resurrection of Jesus, and on the other hand it is stated that the dead do not rise. This is not a contradiction on a marginal point of faith; it is a contradiction on the focal point of faith, indeed on faith itself, since our faith is the resurrection of Jesus Christ; together with his incarnation, passion and death. Either Christ is risen and the dead also rise, or the dead do not rise and Christ is not risen either.

Paul does not start from the resurrection of Jesus to refute the error of the Corinthians: he starts from the error of the Corinthians to draw all the consequences of their assertion and thus confront them with another truth that they would have to confess if their assertion were true: "if Christ has not risen, vain is your faith; you are still in your sins.

If Christ is not risen, besides having a vain faith, there is also a miserable state in which man finds himself: he is still in his sins. If Christ did not rise again for our justification, neither did he die for our sins, he just died. No resurrection implies no atonement. Jesus' unopened tomb would indicate that he too remained in the grip of death and that, consequently, the forgiveness of sins and the justification we sought in him are illusory: we are still in our bondage. We enter here into relativism and religious indifferentism. If sin is not taken away through our justification, there is no difference between the Christian and all other men in the world. The difference would only be one of form, but not of substance. We and others are all in our sins, and in them we live, but also die.

Another consequence: 'Even those who sleep in Christ have therefore perished. Not only we who are alive, are in our sins; also those who died believing and hoping in Christ, perished because Christ, not being the true Messiah, could not obtain remission of sins through faith in Him, and therefore passed into the next world with all their sins, which lead to perdition. From this last deduction, one thing becomes clear: faith in Christ (if he is not resurrected) is of no use to us, either in this life or the next. It does not serve us because it does not deliver us from death, it does not free us from sin, it does not obtain redemption, it does not bring us into the joy of heaven.

"If we have hoped in Christ for this life only, we are the most miserable of all men." A hope in Christ for this life only is not only vain, it is also deleterious; indeed it is an anti-human hope. Because of this faith, we must give up many things, which others enjoy, and endure all manner of travails and persecutions - sometimes even shedding our own blood. What then is the use of hoping in Christ in this life, without the hope of eternal life? What is the use of forcing oneself to sacrifice, to mortify oneself, to carry the cross every day, if all this ends in eternal death, since there would be no hope beyond death for those who have put their trust in Christ?

We are only to be pitied. We have renounced this world in the light of another world, but if Christ is not resurrected we have lost the pleasure of both worlds. Greater foolishness than this could not exist for a man. For this Christians would be to be pitied more than all men, for they are fools more than all men, and they are fools because they go after a faith which at its core is false, since they themselves, that is, those who profess it, would affirm that it is false, founded on a truth that does not exist.

How desirable it would be for Christians today to learn from Paul to draw the consequences of every statement they make concerning our most holy Faith! If they did this, they would understand that certain things cannot be affirmed; but if they are affirmed, it is right to draw conclusions and act accordingly. On many matters of faith today one could make the same argument as Paul. The results would be truly astonishing. But this is not done, and so man continues to live in his delusion. He thinks he has said it all, while in reality he does nothing but live by falsehood, deception and all kinds of other lies about the Lord, not only to his own detriment, but to the detriment of every man, Christian and non-Christian alike.

The strength of faith is in its arguments, in its deductions, in the consequences that must necessarily be drawn from a statement, whether true or false is of little importance, as long as one draws conclusions and knows how to deduce everything. All this ability is wisdom of the Holy Spirit and is given to those who love the truth, seek the truth, desire the truth; it is given to all those who love God and man; who do not want to be false witnesses of God; who do not want to be deceivers of their brothers.

We must always pray to the Lord to give us an open, wise, intelligent mind to immediately perceive the deadly trap that is hidden and concealed behind every statement that is in the guise of faith, while in reality it is pure lie, pure fantasy, pure imagination that has as its point of origin the heart of man and certainly not the heart of God. Reason is a precious asset of man. He must also know how to use it and use it well to discover the true and false of his statements; he must know how to use it to grasp the nuances of true and false that may be hidden in a word; he must know how to use it to arrive through a series of deductions and arguments at the truth itself. Faith needs reason, it needs it; not in order to demonstrate faith, which is based on proclamation alone, but because the truth of faith also possesses a rational path that must be developed. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)

Ps 17 (18)

This monumental ode, which the title attributes to David, is a Te Deum of the king of Israel, it is his hymn of thanksgiving to God because he has been delivered from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. David acknowledges that God alone was his Deliverer, his Saviour.

David begins with a profession of love (v. 2). He shouts to the world his love for the Lord. The word he uses is 'rāḥam', meaning to love very tenderly, as in the case of a mother's love. The Lord is his strength. David is weak as a man. With God, who is his strength, he is strong. It is God's strength that makes him strong. This truth applies to every man. Every man is weak, and remains so unless God becomes his strength.

God for David is everything (v.3). The Lord for David is rock, fortress. He is his Deliverer. He is the rock in which he takes refuge. He is the shield that defends him from the enemy. The Lord is his mighty salvation and his bulwark. The Lord is simply his life, his protection, his defence. It is a true declaration of love and truth.

David's salvation is from the Lord (v. 4). It is not from his worthiness. The Lord is worthy of praise. God cannot but be praised. He does everything well. It is enough for David to call upon the Lord and he will be saved from his enemies. Always the Lord answers when David calls upon him. David's salvation is from his prayer, from his invocation.

Then David describes from what dangers the Lord delivered him. He was surrounded by billows of death, like a drowning man swept away by waves. He was overwhelmed by raging torrents. From these things no one can free himself. From these things only the Lord delivers and saves.

David's winning weapon is faith that is transformed into heartfelt prayer to be raised to the Lord, because only the Lord could help him, and it is to Him that David cries out in his distress. This is what David does: in his distress, he does not lose himself, he does not lose his faith, he remains whole. He turns his faith into prayer. He invokes the Lord. He cries out to Him. He asks Him for help and succour. God hears David's voice, hears it from his temple. His cry reaches him.

God becomes angry because He sees His elect in danger. The Lord's anger produces an upheaval of the whole earth. The earth trembles and shakes. The foundations of the mountains shake. It is as if a mighty earthquake turned the globe upside down. The spiritual fact is translated into such a profound upheaval of nature that one has the impression that creation itself is about to cease to exist. In this catastrophe that strikes terror, the righteous is rescued.

The Lord frees David because he loves him. Here is the secret of the answer to the prayer: the Lord loves David (v. 20). The Lord loves David because David loves the Lord. Prayer is a relationship of love between man and God. David invokes God's love. God's love responds and draws him to safety.

"Wholesome have I been with him, and I have guarded myself from guilt" (v. 24). David's conscience testifies for him. David prayed with an upright conscience, with a pure heart. This he says not only to God, but to every man. Everyone must know that the righteous is truly righteous. The world must know the integrity of God's children. We have a duty to confess it. It is on integrity that truly human relationships can be built. Without integrity, every relationship is tightened on falsehood and lies.

"The way of God is straight, the word of the Lord is tried by fire" (v. 31). What is the secret because God is with David? It is David's abiding in the Word of God. David has a certainty: the way indicated by the Word of God is straight. One only has to follow it. This certainty is lacking in the hearts of many today. Many do not believe in the purity of God's Word. Many think that it is now outdated. Modernity cannot stand under the Word of God.

"For who is God, if not the Lord? Or who is rock, if not our God?" Now David professes his faith in the Lord for all to know. Is there any other God but the Lord? God alone is the Lord. God alone is the rock of salvation. To seek another God is idolatry. This profession of faith must always be made aloud (remember the 'Creed'). Convinced people are needed. A faith hidden in the heart is dead. A seed placed in the ground springs up and reveals the nature of the tree. Faith that is in the heart must sprout up and reveal its nature of truth, holiness, righteousness, love and hope. A faith that does not reveal its nature is dead. It is a useless faith.

"He grants his king great victories; he shows himself faithful to his anointed, to David and his seed for ever" (v. 51). In this Psalm, David sees himself as the work of God's hands. That is why he blesses him, praises him, magnifies him. God's faithfulness and great favours for David do not end with David. God's faithfulness is for all his descendants. We know that David's descendants are Jesus Christ. With Jesus God is faithful for ever. With the other descendants, God will be faithful if they are faithful to Jesus Christ.

Here, then, the figure of David disappears to make way for that of the perfect king in whom the saving action that God offers the world is concentrated. In the light of this reinterpretation, the ode entered the Christian liturgy as a victory song of Christ, the 'son of David', over the forces of evil and as a hymn of the salvation he offered.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon) 

1Th 5:16-24

1Thessalonians 5:16 Be joyful always,

1Thessalonians 5:17 pray unceasingly,

1Tessalonians 5:18 in all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.

1Thessalonians 5:19 quench not the Spirit,

"Be joyful always". The theme of joy is the spiritual climate of the Christian community. Christianity is joy, spiritual gladness, joy of the heart, serenity of the mind. 'Always' means in all circumstances. From an outward point of view, there was little for which believers in those days could rejoice. But joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not something the Christian can procure from his own resources.

The Christian is called to always be joyful. This quality of his new being is only possible on one condition: that there is such a strong faith in his heart that he thinks at all times that everything that happens, happens for a greater good for us. Whoever does not possess this faith is lost, because tribulation, without faith, does not generate hope, but disappointment, sadness, tears and every other kind of bitterness.

Gladness ripens only on the tree of faith, and he who falls from faith also falls from gladness and falls into sadness. Knowing that physical or moral evil permitted by God must generate sanctification in us, the Christian accepts it in faith and lives it in prayer.

In fact, the apostle adds: 'pray unceasingly'. In this very brief exhortation is hidden the secret of the Christian's life. Prayer must punctuate the life of the community and of individuals; a continuous attitude. It is not the little prayer done every now and then, but a regular prayer, done according to a constant rhythm. If we do this we can go even further, and that is to live in a spirit of prayer, aware of God's presence with us wherever we are.

The moment is lost that is without prayer. It is a moment entrusted only to our will, rationality, it is a moment lost because it is not done according to God's will but according to our own. Lost is that moment lived but not entrusted to God in prayer. Lost is that moment made by ourselves, but not made as a gift of God for us and for others. This is the truth of our life.

Because today we no longer pray, or we only pray for some personal interest, so much of our life is wasted, it is lost, it is not lived either for our own good or for the good of our brothers. Learning to pray is the most necessary thing for a man. Teaching how to do so is the primary work of the priest, or of those who lead the community.

"In everything give thanks" is the way to live in a joyful and prayerful atmosphere. We have the verb eucharistein ('to give thanks'). In every situation give thanks, because even in our difficulties and trials God teaches us valuable lessons. It is not easy to see the positive side of a trial, but if God is above all things, then He is sovereign even in the trial.

For thanksgiving to be made of everything, the heart must be clothed in humility. It is proper to humility to recognise what the Lord has done and is doing for us. But it is proper to prayer to raise to the Lord the hymn of thanksgiving, of blessing, of glorifying his name that is mighty on earth and in heaven.

He who does not give thanks is an idolater. He thinks that everything is from him, from his abilities, and therefore he attributes to himself what is simply and purely a gift from the Lord. An example of how one thanks the Lord, blesses Him, exalts and magnifies Him is the Virgin Mary. Her Magnificat is recited daily by the Church. It must not only be recited, but also imitated, prayed, made one's own life.

At the end of this triad of imperatives on the spiritual life, a motivation is given that encompasses all three exhortations: 'for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus towards you'. In this context, the expression 'will of God' implies a way of life that corresponds to the plan of salvation revealed in Jesus Christ. God's will is made known in Christ, and in Christ we are given the motivation and strength to do that will.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books

- Revelation - exegetical commentary

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

(Buyable on Amazon)                                                                          

1Ts 5,16-24

1Tessalonicesi 5:16 State sempre lieti,

1Tessalonicesi 5:17 pregate incessantemente,

1Tessalonicesi 5:18 in ogni cosa rendete grazie; questa è infatti la volontà di Dio in Cristo Gesù verso di voi.

1Tessalonicesi 5:19 Non spegnete lo Spirito,

«State sempre lieti». Il tema della gioia è il clima spirituale della comunità cristiana. Il cristianesimo è gioia, letizia spirituale, gaudio del cuore, serenità della mente. «Sempre» significa in ogni circostanza. Da un punto di vista esteriore c’era ben poco per cui i credenti a quei tempi potessero rallegrarsi. Ma la gioia è un frutto dello Spirito, non è qualcosa che il cristiano possa procurarsi traendola fuori dalle proprie risorse.

Il cristiano è chiamato ad essere sempre lieto. Questa qualità del suo nuovo essere è possibile ad una sola condizione: che vi sia nel cuore una fede così forte da pensare in ogni momento che tutto ciò che avviene, avviene per un bene più grande per noi. Chi non possiede questa fede, si perde, perché la tribolazione, senza la fede, non genera speranza, ma delusione, tristezza, lacrime e ogni altra sorta di amarezza.

La letizia matura solo sull’albero della fede e chi cade dalla fede cade anche dalla letizia e precipita nella tristezza. Sapendo che il male fisico o morale permesso da Dio deve generare in noi la santificazione, il cristiano lo accoglie nella fede e lo vive nella preghiera.

Infatti l'apostolo aggiunge: «pregate incessantemente». In questa brevissima esortazione è nascosto il segreto della vita del cristiano. La preghiera deve scandire la vita della comunità e dei singoli; un’attitudine continua. Non è la preghierina fatta ogni tanto, ma è una preghiera regolare, fatta secondo un ritmo costante. Se si fa questo possiamo andare anche oltre, e cioè vivere in uno spirito di preghiera, consci della presenza di Dio con noi ovunque siamo.

È perso quel momento che è senza preghiera. È un momento affidato solo alla nostra volontà, razionalità, è un momento perso perché non fatto secondo la volontà di Dio ma secondo la nostra. È perso quell’attimo vissuto, ma non affidato a Dio nella preghiera. È perso quel momento fatto da noi stessi, ma non fatto come un dono di Dio per noi e per gli altri. Questa è la verità della nostra vita.

Poiché oggi non si prega più, o si prega solo per alcuni interessi personali, tanta parte della nostra vita viene sciupata, è persa, non è vissuta né per il nostro bene, né per il bene dei nostri fratelli. Imparare a pregare è la cosa più necessaria per un uomo. Insegnare a farlo è l’opera primaria del sacerdote, o di chi guida la comunità.

«In ogni cosa rendete grazie», è il modo di vivere in un clima gioioso e orante. Abbiamo il verbo eucharistein («rendere grazie»). In ogni situazione rendere grazie, perché anche nelle nostre difficoltà e nelle nostre prove Dio ci insegna lezioni preziose. Non è facile vedere il lato positivo di una prova, ma se Dio è sopra ogni cosa, allora è sovrano anche nella prova.

Perché di tutto si faccia un rendimento di grazie, occorre che il cuore si rivesta di umiltà. È proprio dell’umiltà riconoscere quanto il Signore ha fatto e fa per noi. Ma è proprio della preghiera innalzare al Signore l’inno per il rendimento di grazie, per la benedizione, per la glorificazione del suo nome che è potente sulla terra e nei cieli.

Chi non rende grazie è un idolatra. Pensa che tutto sia da lui, dalle sue capacità, e quindi si attribuisce ciò che è semplicemente e puramente un dono del Signore. Esempio di come si ringrazi il Signore, lo si benedica, lo si esalti e lo si magnifichi è la Vergine Maria. Il suo Magnificat è quotidianamente recitato dalla Chiesa. Bisogna che non solo venga recitato, quanto imitato, pregato, fatto propria vita.

A chiusura di questa triade di imperativi sulla vita spirituale, si dà una motivazione che abbraccia tutte e tre le esortazioni: «questa è infatti la volontà di Dio in Cristo Gesù verso di voi». In questo contesto l’espressione «volontà di Dio» implica uno stile di vita corrispondente al progetto di salvezza rivelato in Gesù Cristo. La volontà di Dio viene fatta conoscere in Cristo, e in Cristo ci viene data la motivazione e la forza per cui ci è possibile fare quella volontà.

 Argentino Quintavalle, autore dei libri 

- Apocalisse – commento esegetico 

- L'Apostolo Paolo e i giudaizzanti – Legge o Vangelo?

• Gesù Cristo vero Dio e vero Uomo nel mistero trinitario
• Il discorso profetico di Gesù (Matteo 24-25)
• Tutte le generazioni mi chiameranno beata

(Acquistabili su Amazon)

Mc 1,1-8

Marco 1:1 Inizio del vangelo di Gesù Cristo, Figlio di Dio.

Marco 1:2 Come è scritto nel profeta Isaia:

Ecco, io mando il mio messaggero davanti a te,

egli ti preparerà la strada.

Marco 1:3 Voce di uno che grida nel deserto:

preparate la strada del Signore,

raddrizzate i suoi sentieri,

Il racconto di Marco inizia in un modo insolito e apparentemente banale, dicendo al lettore che quello che sta leggendo è l'inizio del vangelo di Gesù. Un'affermazione questa che lascia perplessi, dato che tutti i libri cominciano dal loro inizio e non è il caso che si sprechi un versetto per dirlo. Ma evidentemente quel “archē” (inizio) assume per l'evangelista un significato del tutto particolare. L'inizio di cui si parla non è soltanto l'inizio di un racconto, ma un "arché", cioè un principio da cui tutto discende. Il termine greco "arché" ci riporta alle origini della creazione: "In principio Dio creò il cielo e la terra" (Gen 1,1) e fu proprio in questo principio, assoluto e unico, che risuonò la parola creatrice. Marco, quindi, vede in Gesù l'inizio di una nuova creazione.

L'inizio di cui si parla è quello di un "vangelo", cioè l'inizio di un lieto annuncio, il cui contenuto è Gesù stesso: «di Gesù Cristo, Figlio di Dio», cioè appartiene a Gesù e si origina da lui. Marco fin da subito mette in chiaro chi è l'eroe del suo racconto e, quindi, come va letta e compresa la sua figura e, di conseguenza, la sua missione. Il suo personaggio è innanzitutto chiamato Gesù, dichiarandone, in tal modo, la dimensione storico-umana: egli è un vero uomo, che si muove ed opera in mezzo agli uomini. Gesù, dunque, non è una realtà metafisica, piovuta dal cielo chissà in quale modo, ma ha profonde radici umane ed è, grazie alla sua umanità, incardinato nella storia, che condivide con il resto degli uomini. In ciò Gesù dimostra tutta la sua solidarietà con il genere umano. In tale nome, poi, è racchiuso il senso più vero e profondo della sua missione. In ebraico, infatti, il nome Gesù (Yeshua) significa "Dio salva"; il lettore, pertanto, è invitato a cogliere in questo uomo l'azione salvifica di Dio stesso.

Ed ecco, quindi, che accanto al nome Gesù compare subito l'attributo "Cristo". Il profeta Natan aveva promesso a Davide una discendenza, che avrebbe reso stabile il suo regno. Da quel momento il popolo ebreo attendeva questa "discendenza", questo "Unto del Signore", a lui consacrato. Nell'immaginario del popolo le attese erano rivolte ad una sorta di super uomo, politico, militare e religioso, che avrebbe dato lustro, splendore e stabilità ad Israele sopra tutti gli altri popoli, e che avrebbe fondato sulla terra il regno di Dio. Marco vede in Gesù il realizzarsi di questa antica profezia, che supera, però, le ristrette visioni storiche e terrene del popolo. Certo, Gesù è il vero Messia atteso, ma la sua messianicità non è così come è sempre stata pensata dagli uomini, ma è posta al servizio di Dio e si rivelerà gradualmente nel doloroso cammino verso la croce, che lascerà sbigottiti, increduli e riluttanti i suoi stessi discepoli. Marco, quindi, vede in Gesù l'Unto di Dio, l'uomo che Dio aveva promesso a Davide e che aveva pensato da sempre per il suo popolo e per l'intera umanità.

Capire, quindi, che Gesù è il Cristo atteso è il primo passo per poter accedere all'altra incredibile realtà, presente in lui: egli è anche Figlio di Dio. L'essere "figlio di Dio" era uno dei titoli attribuiti al Messia; era anche il titolo riconosciuto ai re. Ma Gesù nel corso della sua vita ha dimostrato che il suo essere "Figlio di Dio" aveva radici molto profonde, sconosciute fino ad allora, testimoniando una relazione unica, privilegiata ed esclusiva con Dio, che chiamava "Padre" in senso reale e non metaforico, denunciando, in tal modo la sua vera origine e natura.  

Il vangelo di Marco, quindi, diventa un cammino alla scoperta della vera natura e del vero essere di Gesù. Si parte dalla sua umanità, definita e contenuta nel nome Gesù, per accedere alla sua messianicità, condensata nel titolo di «Cristo», per giungere alla scoperta del titolo dei titoli: «Figlio di Dio» e, quindi, Dio lui stesso.

Il racconto di Marco continua poi con un solenne e autorevole “Come è scritto nel profeta Isaia...”. Alla base di tutto, dunque, ecco la Scrittura, la Parola creatrice di Dio, che trova nell'evento Gesù la sua incarnazione e la sua piena manifestazione. Gesù, dunque, è la Parola del Padre che si fa storia e diviene azione redentrice di Dio in mezzo agli uomini.

Il profeta Isaia esortava il popolo d'Israele, prigioniero a Babilonia, ad aprirsi alla speranza e a preparare la via del ritorno in patria come una sorta di secondo esodo, attraverso il deserto, dove il resto d'Israele, quello rimasto fedele a Dio, avrebbe visto la gloria del Signore.

Ed è proprio sulla spinta del profeta Isaia che il “maestro di Giustizia”, l'enigmatica figura della comunità di Qumran, creò la sua comunità in mezzo al deserto, in attesa della venuta del Messia. Una sorta di comunità monacale animata da forti tensioni escatologiche ed apocalittiche.

Il “deserto” è una parola emblematica e molto significativa nella storia di Israele, perché è da lì che è partita la sua storia della salvezza; lì ha ricevuto la sua identità diventando proprietà di Dio; ed è sempre lì, nel deserto, che Israele viene messo alla prova e trova il suo riscatto e la sua rigenerazione spirituale. In tal guisa, è ancora da qui, dal deserto, che parte ora la storia di un nuovo Israele, a cui Marco allude, richiamandosi ai testi profetici. Ecco perché Marco vede la sua opera come un “archē”, come un inizio.

 Argentino Quintavalle, autore dei libri 

- Apocalisse – commento esegetico 

- L'Apostolo Paolo e i giudaizzanti – Legge o Vangelo?

• Gesù Cristo vero Dio e vero Uomo nel mistero trinitario
• Il discorso profetico di Gesù (Matteo 24-25)
• Tutte le generazioni mi chiameranno beata

(Acquistabili su Amazon)