Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
For: Sunday, May 1, 2011
2nd Sunday of Easter (of the Divine Mercy)
From: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Praise and Thanksgiving to God
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[3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy
we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, [4] and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and
unfading, kept in heaven for you, [5] who by God's power are guarded through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. [6] In this you rejoice, though
now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, [7] so that the genuine-
ness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by
fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
[8] Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you
believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. [9] As the outcome
of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls.
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Commentary:
3-12. This passage, a hymn of praise and gratitude to God, developing what is
proclaimed in v. 2, is more explicit about the action of each Person of the
Blessed Trinity: by making his choice of Christians, God the Father has destined
us to a marvellous heritage in heaven (vv. 3-5); to attain this we need to love and
believe in Jesus Christ our Lord (vv. 6-9); the Holy Spirit, who earlier proclaimed
salvation by the mouth of the Old Testament prophets, is now, through those who
preach the Gospel, announcing that salvation has arrived (vv. 10-12).
3-5. When the fruits of the Redemption are applied to us, a kind of rebirth takes
place. St Peter is the only New Testament writer to use the Greek term trans-
lated here "we have been born anew" (cf. also 1:23). However, the same idea
occurs elsewhere: St John speaks of the action of the Holy Spirit at Baptism as
causing one to be born again (cf. Jn 3:1ff; also, e.g., 1:12-13; 1 Jn 2:29; 3:9); St
Paul refers to "a new creation" to describe the effects of Redemption (cf., e.g.,
Gal 6:15; 2 Cor 5:17); and St James calls Christians the "first fruits of his
creatures"(Jas 1:16-18).
Through this being born again, God destines us "to a living hope", which centers
on the inheritance of heaven, here described as "imperishable" (it is eternal),
"undefiled" (it contains no evil) and "unfading" (it will never grow o Id). The sacred
writer uses these adjectives of negation to show that heavenly things are not
subject to any of the imperfections and defects of earthly things.
For those Christians who stay true to their calling, their inheritance is "kept in
heaven". This key theme will be addressed in various parts of the letter (cf. 2:18-
25; 3:13-17; 4:12-19; 5:5-11); the letter is very much aimed at encouraging the
faithful to bear sufferings with joy, knowing that they are a means to and a gu-
arantee of heaven.
3. God brought about the work of Redemption "by his great mercy". For God,
who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we
were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ" (Eph 2:4-5).
And just as the work of Creation is a manifestation of God's omnipotence, so his
new Creation is an expression of his mercy (cf. "Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 30,
a. 4; cf. note on 2 Cor 5:17).
"Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead": the resurrection of our
Lord marks the climax of his salvific work, for it assures men of their redemption
and their own resurrection. In its Easter liturgy the Church joyfully reminds of this:
"He is the true Lamb who took away the sins of the world. By dying he destroyed
our death; by rising he restored our life" ("Easter Preface", I).
6-9. Hope of obtaining the inheritance of heaven gives Christians joy in the midst
of trials which test their faith. At the center of that faith is Jesus, whom they
strive to love above all, thereby attaining "unutterable and exalted joy", a foretaste
of the joy of heaven itself.
Exhortations to be joyful in the midst of affliction occur often in the New Testa-
ment (cf., e.g., Mt 5:11-12; 2 Cor 1:3-7; Jas 1:2) and reflect a deep Christian
conviction, which St. Bede refers to in his commentary: "St Peter says that it is
good to suffer trials because eternal joys cannot be obtained except through the
afflictions and sorrows of this passing world. 'For a little while', he says, however,
because when one receives an eternal reward, the afflictions of this world--which
appeared so heavy and bitter--seem then to have been very short-lived and slight"
("Super 1 Pet. Expositio, ad loc.").
Christian joy is the fruit of faith, hope and love. "You should realize that God
wants us to be happy and that, if you do all you can, you will be happy, very, ve-
ry happy, although you will never be a moment without the Cross. But that Cross
s no longer a gallows. It is the throne from which Christ reigns" (St J. Escriva,
"Friends of God", 141).
7. The refining of gold by fire is often referred to in Scripture (cf., e.g., Ps 66:10;
Prov 17:3; 1 Cor 3:12-13; Rev 3:18) to explain that the sufferings of this life help
to improve the quality of one's faith. "If I experience pain," St Augustine teaches,
"relief will come in due course. If I am offered tribulation, it will serve for my puri-
fication. Does gold shine in the craftsman's furnace? It will shine later, when it
forms part of the collar, when it is part of the jewelry. But, for the time being, it
puts up with being in the fire because when it sheds its impurities it will acquire
its brilliant shine" ("Enarrationes in Psalmos", 61, 11).
The thought of Christ coming in glory (cf. 1:5-13; 4:13) should greatly encourage
the Christian to bear trials cheerfully.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." -- St Jerome
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