First Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:6-11, 16, 17

⁶ For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.
⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
¹¹ For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day.
¹⁷ For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,