The Seventh Chapter
of
the Second Letter
of
St. Paul
to the Corinthians
¹ Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 1)
Oh God, my Father, this is my one and only aim in life that is to live according to Your ways. Therefore, I pray for Your support in both the physical and even more in the spiritual Amen.
² Make room in your hearts for us; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 2)
Make time and room for Jesus in your hearts. He has not taken anything from us. On the contrary, he has never stopped giving us in order to see us be whole persons. Jesus has never imposed Himself on us but has always given us the freedom to choose whether to believe in Him or not. Blessed be Your name, my God and Father Amen.
³ I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 3)
Oh God, my Father even though I may speak badly about my wife, I cannot say that I hate her from my heart, however, as to this date, it is not healthy for us to live together as a family Amen.
⁴ I often boast about you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with consolation; I am overjoyed in all our affliction.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 4)
Oh God, my Father if St. Paul had proud in the Corinthians how much more You have pride in us, even though we are still sinners Amen.
³ I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 3)
Oh God, my Father even though I may speak badly about my wife, I cannot say that I hate her from my heart, however, as to this date, it is not healthy for us to live together as a family Amen.
⁴ I often boast about you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with consolation; I am overjoyed in all our affliction.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 4)
Oh God, my Father if St. Paul had proud in the Corinthians how much more You have pride in us, even though we are still sinners Amen.
⁵ For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way-disputes with-out and fears within.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 5)
Oh God, my loving Father, when I was married my soul was not at rest or at peace. I had a lot of stress at home and a lot at work. I could not find comfort for my soul, if not when we met in prayer, and even during that time, I experienced troubles and persecution both within and nearby in my inner circles Amen.
⁶ But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his coming but also by the consolation with which he was consoled about you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verses 6 to 7)
Oh God, my Father I thank You for all the consolations that You give me. You are my therapist, my support systems my everything Amen.
⁸ For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it (though I did regret it, for I see that I grieved you with that letter, though only briefly).
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 8)
Oh brothers and sisters, I also ask your forgiveness especially if I have offended or hurt, or even scandalised anybody by anything written in this blog. I apologize and hold myself guilty and responsible Amen.
⁹ Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 9)
Oh God, my Father how nice it is to focus on the positive instead of on the negative, and focus on the good that resulted from a negative situation instead of the contrary Amen.
¹⁰ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 10)
A typical contrast oh Jesus Christ my Father is that of St. Peter who had godly grief which led to repentance and that of Judas Iscariot which led to suicide. I pray that even though I am a sinner I will always experience Your presence every day of my life Amen.
¹¹ For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point, you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 11)
Oh God, my Father I hold myself responsible and accountable for my sins that were done in private and those that were done in public. I also ask and beg for forgiveness because I am still weak as a human being and still prone to sin Amen.
¹² So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the one who was wronged, but in order that your zeal for us might be made known to you before God.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 12)
Oh, brothers and sisters, I write to you not because I feel better or closer in my relationship with God more than anybody else, but in order for you to share the beauty of the Word of God so that through prayer and more personal reflection God will enter your life and have his rightful place forever as He does in mine Amen.
¹³ In this we find comfort. In addition to our own consolation, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his mind has been set at rest by all of you.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 13)
As my consolation oh God my Father I offer it to all the people in the world who are being cured of the Coronavirus. I thank You for each and every healed person both in Malta and more abroad Amen.
¹⁴ For if I have been somewhat boastful about you to him, I was not disgraced; but just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved true as well.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verse 14)
Oh God, my Father, even though people speak positively of us and boost our self-esteem, the same mouth that promotes, can easily demote if things end up negatively. Therefore I prefer to live a simple and humble life, and if I am worthy of the praise I am praised along with You, for all I know, all I have is from You and by You and after all Yours. The only thing that I can claim as being my own is my sins Amen.
¹⁵ And his heart goes out all the more to you, as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶ I rejoice because I have complete confidence in you.
(The Seventh Chapter of the Second Chapter of St. Paul to the Corinthians verses 15 to 16)
Oh God, my Father, if there is anything that I can boast in, is in Your loving mercy and kindness. I proclaim both in private and more in public that there is none like You, and that I find my glory in the power of the cross Amen.
Oh God, my Father I would like to end this seventh chapter of the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians with the following prayer:-
Oh God, my Father, many of us have idols and role models that can vary from pop singers to football players among others. We try to identify with such people to try and share in the image of glory and success that they project on Society. Even though I am still a sinner and maybe because I am still a sinner I identify with people such as St. Augustine of Hippo who did not live a life that was always in Your Favour, however when the time came You changed his life. I also identify with St. Francis of Assisi who experienced You in the beauty of nature and the simplicity and beauty of life as lived through being in relationship with You and others who in their poverty were living mirrors of Your presence Amen
