At last weekend's Masses, our second reading from the very beginning of the first letter to the Corinthians, St Paul told the people of God in Corinth that they had been sanctified in our Lord Jesus Christ, that as such they have a calling to holy, and that they should always call upon the name of the Lord. Yet, in the midst of their life of discipleship as individuals and as the Body of Christ as a community, we hear today of the many divisions that exist in that community in a continuation of that letter. Many of the members of that community had lost sight of the important of Christ in their lives of faith and instead focus on the human leaders they were following in the Church. Two of the biggest problems that the Corinthians faced were price and selfishness. Those are often problems we also can face on our own journey of faith.
Paul, Apollos, and Cephas were leaders in that community who tied to bring the people together and to get them to follow the Way of Jesus. Those ministers were united in the same mind and purpose. In his life and ministry, Jesus himself did not operate out of price and selfishness. His entire life was dedicated to sacrifice and service and following the will of his Father, which ultimately led to his journey to the cross for our salvation.
Paul ends today’s reading by stating that he was entrusted to bring God’s message that would not empty the meaning from the cross of Christ. Jesus’ death on the cross is not some romanticized version of God’s love for his son and for us. The omniscient God allowed his beloved son to be put under human power, to be killed violently on the cross, defying human reasoning and human logic. St Paul goes on to say that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.
The power of God is not manifest in military might or great shows of power. The power of God is manifest in genuine acts of self-sacrificial love. To the ways of the world, this might look foolish or meaningless, but that is the power of the cross of Christ.
This Sunday concludes our commemoration of the week of prayer for Christian unity. This week of prayer for Christian unity started in January 1908 in the Atonement Franciscan Convent of the Episcopal Church, in Graymoor in the Hudson Valley of New York. This week of prayer was led by Father Paul Wattson and Mother Lurana White, who later converted to Catholicism. This week of prayer for Christian unity was recognized in the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XV in 1916, extending this week of prayer to the universal Catholic Church.
The theme for this year comes from St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: “There is one body, and one spirit, just as you are called to the one hope of your calling.” (Ephesians 4:4) These words of St. Paul see the unity of the community of believers as a vocation, a calling by the Holy Spirit. This unity requires conversion of heart, which is not possible without openness to reconciliation and healing. This unity is linked to hope and practiced in communal support, by embracing diversity while maintaining communion. This also means the we are willing to accept the diversity of gifts exercised in ministry, the goal of which is building up unity for the whole. This unity is guided by a mutual search for truth in a spirit of communal love.
For a lot of the time I have been a priest, I have been involved in ministerial associations in the towns where I have served, where the pastors of the various churches get together for fellowship and support and to work together in the proclamation of God’s kingdom. Unfortunately, we do not have this in Clinton, but I have a lot of contact with the different minsters who serve out at the prison and with the prison chaplains. I get a lot out of my collaborations and my conversations with them.
It is important for us to continue to pray for Christian unity. However, it is important to practice concrete actions in striving for Christian unity as well.
I wanted to mention that this Sunday is also Word of God Sunday, as declared by Pope Francis in 2019, a time when we at to celebrate the word of God as a living presence in our lives. As this homily shows, delving deeply into God’s word show how relevant his word is in our lives of faith in the modern world.
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