“We have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men alike … We are fool’s on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are held in honor, but we in disrepute.”
Saint Paul wrote these words to the Corinthians in today’s first reading for Mass. He goes on to write of how the Apostles were treated poorly:
“To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently.”
Then Saint Paul goes on to tell the Corinthians that he is not trying to shame them, but to admonish them because he loves them. Saint Paul contrasted the manner of living, and the lifestyle that some of the Corinthians enjoyed, with an example of the lifestyle of a true disciple of Christ.
A true disciple of Christ will not always be highly regarded by other people. People will not always treat them well, or speak highly of them. The life of a Christian is hard. If it isn’t hard, then something is wrong.
This is still true with us today. Perhaps our choices in life are not always in keeping with Christian values. Christianity should cost us something, and not just in monetary terms. If it isn’t costing us something personally, and if a lot of people think highly of us, then it’s possible we are doing the wrong things. Jesus told us in the gospel of Luke, “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”
Jesus did the right thing in today’s gospel, when he let his disciples pick grain on the sabbath because they were hungry. He was criticized for allowing his disciples to break the rules of the sabbath, and it made him look bad in front of the Pharisees, but it was just the right thing to do.
This gospel has so many lessons for us to learn. First of all, Jesus based his decision on the scriptures. When he made the decision to allow his disciples to break the sabbath by eating the grain, because they were hungry, he remembered the scriptures:
“Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?”
Other than prayer, the scriptures are the best moral guide for our lives. Jesus himself referred to the scriptures, to justify his actions. Our feelings of love alone, are not the sole basis of making a good decision. Jesus loved his disciples and cared that they were hungry, but his decision was made based on the scriptures.
The meaning people usually derive from this story in the gospel, is that love overrides the rules. Love is supposed to be the fulfillment of the law. However, the word ‘love’ has many connotations in our modern life. In our modern times, we love anything from our spouse, friends and family – to sad movies, uplifting concerts or sunsets. Our emotions alone are not to be depended upon as the sole source of our decisions.
A good thought for today, might be to realize that love goes hand in hand with the guidance we receive in the scriptures. The Catholic church has also studied the scriptures for over 2,000 years and understands the wisdom contained in them, much more in depth than the average person. Our lives are very short, in comparison to the 2,014 years of knowledge, experience and understanding that the Catholic church has about the scriptures, so we should trust her guidance.
However, like the Pharisees, it is possible in very rare instances that the leaders of our church could be wrong. Your conscience, along with the guidance found in the scriptures and Christ’s own life should also be a sound compass in making a good moral decision, like Jesus did in today’s gospel.
