The Holy Martyr Myron.
Post-feast of the Dormition.
2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 3:6-12.
Read 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
In today’s reading, St. Paul tells that, “…though [Christ] was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” (2 Co 8:9). What does it mean to say that Christ, though rich, became poor for our sake ? We should not think about this saying in a primarily material sense, for though Christ is Lord and creator of all material things, he had no material riches to speak of during His earthly sojourn.
St. Cyril of Alexandria tells us that Christ’s poverty refers to his kenotic self-emptying (On the Unity of Christ); This kenosis, or laying down of oneself, becomes the mode of Christian living that we are baptized into, having been baptized into Christ.
Christ’s self-emptying, then, is not just an extrinsic example of certain behaviours that we should imitate. Rather, it is an effective pattern of life that we are grafted into by our baptism. His life is now our life, and by living this life that has been given to us, we become like Him, as St. John Chrysostom reminds us, “if he had not become poor, you would not have become rich. By riches, Paul means the knowledge of godliness, the cleansing away of sins, justification, sanctification, the countless good things which God bestowed upon us and which he intends to bestow.” (Homily on Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Corinthians)
So when St. Paul tells us, “that by his poverty you might become rich”, he means that in order fully participate in the glory of Christ, we must likewise empty ourselves, becoming poor and detached from anything we think we are entitled to: whether that be a certain state in life, possessions, material or even spiritual comforts. St. Basil the Great calls this,“…the transference of the human heart to a heavenly mode of life.” This, he says, “is the first step toward the likeness to Christ, who, being rich, became poor for our sake. Unless we attain to this likeness, it is impossible for us to achieve a way of life in accord with the gospel of Christ.” (Longer Rule)
God grant us the grace to do so!