As A COLLABORATOR with God, Paul presents in this chapter some very dear and exceedingly profound teachings:

1. Leave superficial knowledge aside (vv. l, 3) in order to obtain the most complex and deeper knowledge. After all, we cannot spend our lives drinking milk; that is for children.

1. Discord and negativity (v. 3) are not Christian behaviors; these are behaviors of those who do not know God.

1. Act as faithful collaborators with God (vv. 4—9), integrating others into that team of collaborators. That is why there is no point in arguing about who is better or who is older; who preaches best, or who knows best. We are all collaborators with God.

1. Christ is the only and sufficient Foundation (w. 10, Il). Nothing and no one can or should replace Him (vv. 12—15).

1. Remain holy and healthy because we are the temple of God (vv. 16, 17).

1. Christ gives meaning to our lives (vv. 18—23), because He is the only and sufficient Foundation. When we understand and live that, we become cooperators with God in preaching the gospel.

Ora et labora (Pray and work), the motto of the Benedictine Confederation, was also the motto of Amanda Barrionuevo’s life. She is a simple, dedicated, hard-working, and dream-filled woman. Thanks to her efforts, the help of friends, and spiritual strength, she left the squatter settlement where she lived next to a cemetery and learned how to work as a restorer.

And so it was, by virtue of her dreams and her new trade, that she was part of the team that restored the famous C016n Theater, in the city of Buenos Aires.

With joy and a sparkle in her eyes, she said the following at the inauguration celebration: «It’s like bringing back to life something that was dead.» Trust in God and hard work allowed Amanda Barrionuevo to be part of the restoration team of one of the most important cultural centers in the world, which had deteriorated by the passage of time.

We also live in a «cemetery,» «dead in trespasses and sin,» because «the wages of sin is death» (Eph. 2: l; Rom. 6:23; cf. Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13; I Pet. 2:24). But we were called to be collaborators with God in order to restore lives.

We have the privilege to restore life in something that was dead, to partake of the «inauguration celebration» in the kingdom of God and to be part of that kingdom forever.

We are called to be collaborators with God so we can be «fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium?» (Mike Francen). Therefore, Ora et labora.