Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Much To Be Thankful For

Popular Translation

3 May God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you his life and peace.

4 I always thank my God about you. After all, God gave you his very life when he gave you Christ Jesus. 5 His life has made you full in every way, especially in the way you talk and the things you know about God. 6 His life made you sure in what you say and do about Jesus. 7 As you wait for Jesus to return, God's life will give you every spiritual gift you will ever need.

8 Our Lord Jesus himself will keep you safe and without guilt until the day he returns. 9 God keeps his promises about this. After all, he is the One who called you to be close to his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Literal Translation

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and (our) Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I always give thanks to my God about you because of the grace having been given to you in Christ Jesus, 5 that, in him, you were made rich in everything, in all speech and knowledge, 6 just as the witness of Christ was secured in you, 7 so that you (are certainly) not to be lacking in any (spiritual) gift, awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will secure you until the end (time), without guilt on the day of our Lord Jesus [Christ]. 9 God is faithful, though whom you were called into communion with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

1:4-8 This very long sentence hinges on the noun "grace" in 1:4. Grace was the reason for Paul's thanksgiving ("eucharisteo" in Greek: 1:4). Grace made the Corinthians rich in rhetorical (1:5) and spiritual (1:7a) gifts. The result of these gifts caused by grace was the "witness of Christ" (1:6). Grace was the reason to await the coming of the Lord (1:7b).

In 1:8, the emphasis changed from "grace" to the person of Jesus himself. He would be the One who would be the security of the believers (in persecution or tribulation) until the end. He would be the One who keeps the faithful without guilt on that terrible day of judgment.

As Christians, we have much to be thankful for. In his first letter to the Church at Corinth, St. Paul gave a list of God's gifts that should evoke thanksgiving: grace in the form of gifts to build up the community, an intimacy with Jesus that would sustain the believers through persecution, and a forgiveness of sins that would be made fully manifest on the Last Day.

Tools to live the Christian life. An intimacy with the Lord. The reality of forgiveness. What else could we want?

Yes, there is much to be thankful for.

Reflect on the gifts God has given you. Take the time to praise and thank him for those gifts.