A Reflection for Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Abnormal Time
Now you might be Christ’s Body, and individually parts of it. (1 Cor 12:27)
In the primary century, if you happen to were traveling to Rome from what’s modern-day Turkey, you had two options: You could possibly sail all the way in which across the southern a part of Greece, which was really dangerous owing to the rocky shoals and marauding pirates, or you might sail through the narrow waterway between the northern half of Greece and its southern half. In fact this waterway wasn’t completely open. In the course of it, connecting northern Greece with southern Greece, was a small strip of land, concerning the size of Manhattan, called Corinth.
Corinth was a bustling, wealthy, metropolis—the capital of what was then a significant province of the Roman Empire. Because so many individuals traveled through Corinth, it was also multi-cultural: Every conceivable type of God was worshiped by the Corinthians, every known language was spoken in its streets, every type of popular entertainment might be found there. So not only was it the dimensions of modern-day Manhattan; it was also the Manhattan of its day.
Paul arrives in Corinth about 15 years after the resurrection of Jesus. He stays for some time, helping to accumulate the small church, after which moves on. A few years after, nevertheless, he gets word that things on the church in Corinth should not going thoroughly. And so he writes them the letter that we now have in front of us today:
Now you might be Christ’s Body, and individually parts of it.
Some people God has designated within the Church
to be, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers;
then, mighty deeds;
then gifts of healing, assistance, administration,
and varieties of tongues.
Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing?
Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
Strive eagerly for the best spiritual gifts. (1 Cor 12:27-31)
Paul writes within the early a part of this letter that he has heard about Corinthians skipping the Eucharist and going to entertainments; he tells them that he has even heard about people being drunk at Mass, about people not believing within the resurrection, about people not celebrating the Eucharist in the right way and even some denying what we anachronistically but accurately call the true presence. Most of all, Paul is upset because these Corinthians are doing a most simple human thing: They’re having an argument amongst themselves about who’s the best.
You see, this small community of Christians is a bit like ours here in the fashionable United States. There are ministers of the word and different sorts of linguists (individuals who speak in numerous tongues); there are catechists, lectors, ministers of hospitality. And all these people have gifts, gifts they convey to their ministries. Unfortunately, as Paul points out, they’re all arguing about who has the best gift. And so Paul tells them, in essence, that the best gift is Christ and also you all have him and yet none of you do.
So stop fighting over who’s the best, says Paul. You all have gifts, but without Christ your gifts amount to nothing. The entire of human life is a call to like each other, not on our terms, but on God’s terms. It wasn’t easy for the Corinthians and it isn’t easy for modern-day Manhattanites either, or for anyone else for that matter. But it surely is feasible. Jesus showed us the way in which. For Jesus Christ, God made man, is nothing more and definitely nothing lower than God loving with a human heart. What a present!
