2 Corinthians 7:10 (RSV-CE)
In the Ignatius
Catholic Study Bible, there is a beautiful note regarding the godly grief
of St. Peter in contrast to the worldly grief of Judas Iscariot. After
denying Christ three times, St. Peter cries tears of contrition at the loving look
of our Lord (Matthew 26:75). Later, at the end of John's gospel, Peter
professes his love to Jesus three times (John 21:17). Judas, instead,
hangs himself in despair (Matthew 27:5).
The world tempts us to wallow in a culture
of death, despair, and spiritual deprivation. Many of us are entrapped in
a world of relativism, desperate for the next sensual pleasure and the mirage
of an uplifting experience in a lackluster life. But we are blind to this
pursuit, for worldly pleasures are a false destination. We are created
for and destined to know, love, and serve God. The temptation, however,
is to embrace the current culture and pleasures of the world, a culture that
will consistently fall short and require us to seek more. That
"more," however, is not found in “squandering our inheritance” like
that of the prodigal son. Instead, the “more” we seek is Jesus Christ,
and until we pray for the grace to see and choose God, we are stuck in our own
spiritual blindness. This verse speaks clearly to me; it speaks to us all
on some level.
By devoting our lives to Christ, our hearts can finally rest in God's love rather than empty worldly desires. Contextually, St. Paul encourages first
century Corinthians to turn toward Jesus and the truth of living for God
through Christ. Let us remember the truth behind Paul's first-century message; it is a message for our modern world, too.