Sometimes it is good to get background information to put Scripture in context. That will be the focus of today’s reflection. The mass readings today begin a study of 1 Corinthians. The first reading will come from I Corinthians for three weeks. Because of the similarities of the context and issues Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians with the context and issues we face today, it seems worthwhile today to do a background check on the church in Corinth.
Corinth
Corinth had been a Greek city for about 4000 years before it fell to the Romans in 146 BC. When Paul proclaimed the Gospel there in AD 50-51-52 it had only been under Roman rule for about 100 years. It was a rough-and-tumble city on a major land route North and South and between two thriving seaports East and West. In Paul’s day it was a boom town, growing, thriving, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. It had its Greek history, its Roman reality, and the comings and goings of other cultures thriving under Pax Romana.
There was a small community of Jews that included Aquila and Priscilla from Rome. They may have brought the Christian message to Corinth ahead of Paul. The Christian community soon included many Greeks. It was most likely a “working class” community, with a substantial membership among the poor, and with many people who had lived outside awareness of God, his standards, or his love.
Paul made Corinth a center for missionary work for about ten years. Because of so many travelers, it was a good place for a tent-maker. He could earn his living easily there while he preached the Gospel. Because there were so many people who came and went, he would not be rejected as an outsider. He had been educated Greek, was a Roman citizen, and Jewish in faith and culture. Corinth was a perfect match of his background gifts with the potentials of the pagan world. Finally, the presence of so many travelers meant that seeds of the Gospel could spread far and wide.
Our culture today is equally cosmopolitan, transient, self-serving, and booming. Via internet and TV, even small towns import the concerns and values of the large cities of the world. Information explodes at our fingertips all around us. Like Paul in Corinth, perhaps we are in perfect positions to sow seeds of Christianity as we go about our daily work, rub shoulders with many cultures, and live as Christians in this world at our fingertips.
Issues in Corinth
Paul left Corinth about 53 AD. He writes this letter in 56 or 57 AD. Since his leaving, a number of issues have divided the community. Paul tackles them head on.
Literally all the issues that Paul addressed at Corinth are our issues, too. Right away, in today’s reading, Paul addresses the issue of what is of God in our salvation and what is of us. He begins the letter by noting grace has been given to the people at Corinth. They have received it through “discourse” [conversations and preaching], knowledge, and testimonies. Grace gives the people what they need to “stand firm” while they wait for Christ to come. Yet they must stand firm. Even here, you can sense a strong eschatological feel. Paul expects Christ to return and claim his people SOON. In the meantime, Paul reminds the Corinthians that the Word preached to them and the grace they have received is ENOUGH to enable them to live their lives as Christians. Today’s reading closes with “God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Good reminder for us, too. God is faithful—still, today. I was called by him to fellowship (friendship, friendly association) with Jesus—who is THE CHRIST, the Savior of this, OUR current world.
We will see over the next three weeks issues Paul addresses which are also our own:
- Factions and divisions in the community (1 Cor 1:10-4:21)
- Christians practicing unchristian behavior (1 Cor 5:1-11:34)
- Use of gifts from God and the value of ordinary love (1 Cor 12:1-14-40)
- Need for vision based on Christ’s resurrection and our own (1 Cor 15:1-58)
- Importance of keeping Christ’s love at the center of everything (1 Cor 16:1-18)
Each of those issues can be Word, Truth, Guidance from God for me, for you, for our church today. God’s Word can speak.
Today’s Gospel
This beginning bird’s eye view of 1 Corinthians can be supplemented by understanding today’s Gospel in context. It is August in Ordinary Time for us, but this reading, tomorrow’s, and Saturday’s Gospels happen during Wednesday of Holy Week for Jesus and the disciples. Jesus gives a last testimony about the religious leaders of his day in Matthew 21-23. We’ve been reading those. Then he turns in Matthew 24 and 25 to his disciples. This is as much a “Farewell Discourse” to them as the beautiful words we hear in John 12-17. It’s tone is not so gentle.
There are four parables. The first is the one today. Its message: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.” This parable is followed by tomorrow’s parable of the 10 Virgins, some of whom did not think ahead to have enough oil, and Saturday’s parable of the men who used or buried their talents. The final parable in Matthew 25 is that of the Last Judgment “I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me to drink.” We read that at other times during the year.
Practice
The meta-message to me today of those four parables and Paul in Corinthians is: PRACTICE YOUR FAITH. LIVE IT. DO IT. It’s no good unless you PRACTICE your faith.
Along that line, I’ve been reading a book, Practice Makes Catholic: Moving from a Learned Faith to a Lived Faith by Joe Paprocki (Chicago: Loyola Press, 2011). After the serious theology I’ve read all summer, it’s a nice break—not heavy, not complicated. But it’s helpful, practical, and has made me think. It names 21 Catholic practices that are part of how we live our faith in the world. They range from using Holy Water to mark ourselves with the Sign of the Cross as we enter church to working for justice to praying to saints.
Reading it, thinking about it in light of scandals and divisions, calls me to name in my life those simple actions that identify me as Catholic and Christian, to treasure them, and to use them to balance myself when news media, troubled friends, or distanced parishioners name the sins of parish, priests, or institution.
We must follow Jesus. We must follow The Way. We must practice our faith. Only this has a track record of truly changing the world.
Prayer:
Lord, let my practices today identify me as Catholic and Christian. Through my practices let my little light shine. Help me be a beacon of faith this day. Let me sing in my heart, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”
