1 Coríntios 9
Ambrose of Milan · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
1 Coríntios 9:17
Surely it is better to merit a reward than to serve as a steward. Let us not be bound by the yoke of slavery, but let us serve in charity of spirit. — LETTER 47
1 Coríntios 9:22
He who did not think it robbery to be equal with God took the nature of a slave. He became all things to all men to bring salvation to all. Paul, an imitator of him, lived as if outside the law while remaining accountable to the law. He spent his life for the advantage of those he wished to win. He willingly became weak for the weak in order to strengthen them. He ran the race to overtake them. — Letter 37 (To Simplician)
1 Coríntios 9:25
You are an athlete. Come to grips with your opponent, not with your head but with your arms. — The Six Days of Creation, Book 6, Chapter 1
1 Coríntios 9:26
As a wrestler therefore he enters the lists last of all; he raises his eyes to heaven, he sees that even the heavenly creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. He sees that the whole creation groaneth in pain together, waiting for redemption. He sees that labour awaits us all. He raises his eyes, he sees the circlets of lights, he surveys the orbs of the moon and stars: For the just, who overcome, shall be as the stars in heaven. And he chastises his body, that it may not be his enemy in the combat, he anoints it with the oil of mercy, he exercises it with daily trials of virtue, he smears himself with dust, he runs to the goal of the course but not as uncertainly, he aims his blows, he darts forth his arms, but not into empty space. Thus the earth is man's trial-ground, heaven is his crown. — Letter 49, 5-6
1 Coríntios 9:26
And so Paul, like a good athlete, not only knew how to avoid the blows of opposing powers, but also how to strike back. Therefore he says: I beat my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. And so, like a good athlete, he deserved to reach the crown. — On Paradise, Chapter 12, 56