Finally brethren, farewell.  Become complete.  Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; an the God of love and peace will be with you.  (12) Greet one another with a holy kiss.  (13) All the saints greet you.  (14) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.

The Apostle Paul wrote this second letter to the Corinthians and today’s reading is from the 13th chapter of the letter.  The ancient Church there as a whole has returned to allegiance to the gospel as preached by Paul but there are subverters at work and that is why Paul is vehement when he announces his intention to deal severely with dissension when he arrives in Corinth for the “third” time.  Paul writes that any case requiring disci;linary treatment will be dealt with immediately and that he intends to exercise his spiritual authority – he writes this so that voluntary action on the part of the Corinthians would spare Paul harsh action when he arrives.  In questioning the authority of Paul the Corinthians were questioning Christ who spoke in him.  To challenge Paul they are challenging Christ.

Paul closes Chapter 13 with love.  He prays that they will face their duties and overcome friction, fix dissension,  and that the love and peace of God will be in them.  He ends with an apostolic benediction which is the explicit doctrine of the trinity which is celebrate this Sunday in the Roman calendar of mass. This doctrine is based on God being revealed in the historical Christ – it really happened – and that the Church possesses this knowledge through the work of the Spirit.  The historical Christ is paramount here and it is through the Holy Spirit that the grace of Jesus and the love of God become possessions of Christian men.