Catholic Commentary on 2 Corinthians 1

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

The Most Personal Letter

Second Corinthians is the most autobiographical of Paul's major letters, written out of deep pain and strained relationship. Between his first and second letters to Corinth, Paul had made a painful visit, written a severe letter now lost, and sent Titus to repair the relationship. The community had largely responded well, but a minority remained hostile, and false apostles had arrived challenging Paul's authority. The letter is a sustained defence of authentic apostleship, woven through with some of the most profound theological reflection Paul ever produced. He writes not as a triumphant founder but as a man who has suffered, doubted, and found God's grace sufficient in the depths.

The letter opens not with complaints but with a blessing: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. The suffering Paul has been through is not wasted. It has become the raw material of pastoral ministry: the comfort received in affliction is the very comfort he can now give to others in their affliction. The Catechism sees in this the theology of compassion as vocation: those who have been comforted by God in suffering are uniquely equipped to be his instruments of comfort for others (CCC 1508).

Hardship and Deliverance

Paul describes the affliction that came to him in the province of Asia: he was under great pressure, far beyond his ability to endure, so that he despaired of life itself. He felt the sentence of death in himself. But this happened so that he might not rely on himself but on God who raises the dead. God delivered him from deadly peril and he trusts God will deliver him again, as the Corinthians help him by their prayers. This frank admission of despair is not weakness. It is the testimony of one who has discovered what lies on the other side of the end of human resources.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the comfort you have received in your darkest season is not yours to keep. It was given so that you could give it away. Who in your life right now is in the affliction you once were in? You have something to offer them that no one who has not been there can give. The God of all comfort comforts us so that we can comfort others. Go and be that comfort today.

Prayer

Father of compassion and God of all comfort, comfort us in all our troubles so that we may comfort others with the comfort we receive from you. Let every affliction we have endured become a resource for ministry, and let our despair become testimony to your power to raise the dead. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

2 Corinthians
1
Paul Greets the Corinthians
(Acts 18:1–11; 1 Corinthians 1:1–3)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
 
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
 
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God of All Comfort
 
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
 
6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which accomplishes in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we experience. 7 And our hope for you is sure, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.
 
8 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia.* 1:8 Literally in Asia; Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.
 
10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.
Paul’s Change of Plans
 
12 And this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly † 1:12 Literally fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God. 13 For we do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely, 14 as you have already understood us in part, so that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.‡ 1:14 BYZ and TR the Lord Jesus
 
15 Confident of this, I planned to visit you first, so that you might receive a double blessing. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to return to you from Macedonia, and then to have you help me on my way to Judea.
 
17 When I planned this, did I do it carelessly? Or do I make my plans by human standards, so as to say “Yes, yes” when I really mean “No, no”? 18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed among you by me and Silvanus § 1:19 That is, Silas and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in Him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.
 
21 Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us, 22 placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come. 23 I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are fellow workers with you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.

*1:8 1:8 Literally in Asia; Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey.

†1:12 1:12 Literally fleshly

‡1:14 1:14 BYZ and TR the Lord Jesus

§1:19 1:19 That is, Silas

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