January 2003

The Christians of Corinth used to compare the apostle Paul with other contemporary preachers who spoke with greater eloquence and scholarship. They liked to hear nice talks, philosophical speculations, whereas Paul, physically weak and tested, presented himself with simplicity, without using the big words suggested by human wisdom . And yet Jesus had fully revealed himself to Paul on the way to Damascus, and ever since then God had continued to inundate his heart with the light of his Son and had invited him to bring that light to everyone. However, Paul was the first to realize the disproportion between the inestimable preciousness of the mission entrusted to him and the inadequacy of his person: a treasure in a poor clay jar.

How often we too are aware of our poverty, our limitations and inadequacy before the tasks entrusted to us, our incapacity to respond fully to the demands of our vocation, the sense of powerlessness in the face of situations that surpass our strength. Moreover, we feel inclined and attracted more easily towards evil rather than good, and we find it difficult to resist due to the weakness of our will. We too, like Paul, feel like vases of clay.
And it’s not hard to find the same weakness and fragility in the people around us, in our families, communities or groups.
How can we not be mindful of these words of Paul during this month in which we celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity? In spite of the treasure God has given us, we Christians have not been able to live in unity.

«We hold this treasure in earthen vessels»

If we were to look only at the earthen vessels that we are, we would really become discouraged. Instead, what matters, and what we must focus on, is the treasure that we bear within us! Paul knew that his earthen vessel was inhabited by the light of Christ: it was Christ himself who lived in him and this gave him the courage to venture everything for the spreading of God’s Kingdom.
As Christians, we too can experience the infinite treasure that we bear within us: it is the Most Holy Trinity. I look within myself and I discover depths of love, an abyss, an immensity, like a divine sun dwelling within me.

I look around me and learn to discern this indwelling treasure also in the others. Their vases of clay might be evident, but I don’t stop at outward appearances. John Paul II reminds us that we must see the light of the Trinity dwelling in us also “on the face of the brothers and sisters around us”.

«We hold this treasure in earthen vessels»

How should we live this Word of Life?
It is addressed to us. An us that doesn’t exclude anyone. “Christians must make known together this treasure that shines in glory on the face of the resurrected one.” However, in order to become fully aware of the treasure we have, we will need to enter into communion with it. Yes, we can learn to live with the Most Holy Trinity to the point of losing ourselves in it. We can have a personal relationship with each of the three divine Persons, with the Father and with the Son and with the Holy Spirit, so that God himself lives and acts in us.
We have the Father. In our vases of clay the Father is present. We can cast our worries upon him, all our concerns, as the apostle Peter suggests. Because this is what you do with a father: you entrust yourself to him, in everything and for everything, with total confidence. A father gives support and security, and the child, carefree and trusting, throws himself into his father’s arms.

«We hold this treasure in earthen vessels»

Also the Son dwells within us: the Word Incarnate, Jesus. Jesus is within us. We have learned to love him deeply wherever he is present: in the Eucharist, in his word, when we are united in his name, in the poor, in the authority that represents him… in the depths of our heart. We can even learn to love him in our shortcomings, weaknesses, failures, because he took upon himself our weaknesses and fragility even though he was not a sinner. Having shared all that we are, Jesus, the Incarnate Word, can support us in every trial of life. He can help us to overcome it and give back to us light, peace and strength.

And the Holy Spirit, that Spirit in whom we trustingly confide as though to other ourselves, who always answers when we invoke him and suggests words of wisdom, who comforts and sustains us, who loves us as a true friend and gives us light.
What more do we want? Only one Love has taken up residence in our heart: it is our treasure. The earthen vessel, ours and that of others, will no longer be an obstacle, it will no longer discourage us. It will simply remind us that the light and life that God wants to release within us and around us is not so much the fruit of our human capacities, but the effect of him at work in us, of his presence acknowledged and loved. Then, like Paul, we will be able to risk everything for the Kingdom of God and with greater strength strive towards the full and visible communion among Christians. Like him we can repeat: “But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us” (2 Cor 4:7).

Chiara Lubich