Tuesday, September 6, 2022

 

Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(I Corinthians 6:1-11; Luke 6:12-19)

An American Catholic would have no problem taking to court another Catholic if there is a serious grievance.  St. Paul in today’s first reading finds such action outrageous.  It is not that he is living at a different time.  He has a very different sense of Church.

For Paul the Church is Christ.  As the people consume Christ’s body and blood, they are assumed into him.  For this reason Paul regularly calls the Church the “Body of Christ.” Bringing a member of the church community to court, then, would be akin to settling family problems with justice of the peace.  Family members at odds should find better judgment in a discerning matriarch or a wise uncle who knows intimately all involved.

No church community is perfect.  There will always be some people who think differently and others whose personality we find difficult.  Yet we should make a determined effort to deepen our relations in community.  We want to act as Christ who, as always, comes to the world to establish the Kingdom of God.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(I Corinthians 6:1-11; Luke 6:12-19)

A recent article on the editorial page of The New York Times criticized the Church for its sexual morality.  The author reacted to the suspicion of homosexual activity among priests and bishops raised by the former Apostolic Delegate to the United States.  More to the point, the author said that the Church has failed “to come to grips with sex.”  Especially problematic for him was St. Paul’s condemnation of homosexual activity, an instance of which is found in today’s first reading.

Paul does not make distinctions when he declares that “sodomites,” like other kinds of blatant sinners, will not inherit the kingdom of God.  By using that term he might well have in mind promiscuous men who seek to victimize others.  Perhaps he would not as hastily doomed men in a committed relationships.  However, the issue here is the purpose of sexual activity.  The Church has always maintained that genital sex is ordered to have children.  In more recent times the Church has emphasized another purpose which is to assist a married couple grow in mutual love.  Procreative, love-nurturing sexual activity is not an ideal for the holiest couples.  It is a reality in millions of marriages throughout history and today.

Advocates of the Sexual Revolution have proclaimed that sexual activity outside marriage can be good.  With the wreckage of poverty, emotional distress, to say nothing of abortions, that has resulted from “free love,” one should think that it is they, not the Church, who have to come to grips with reality.  The Church must continue teaching, whether or not its message is accepted, what it has received from Jesus:  when a man and a woman marry, they become “one flesh” which is not to be divided.  St. Paul never denies this truth but means to affirm it with his condemnation of sodomy.

Tuesday, September 10, 2014

Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, priest

(I Corinthians 6:1-11; Luke 6:1-11)

You’re poor and in jail.  You did not commit the crime you are accused of.  But you are hardly perfect.  The district attorney tells you to confess to the crime.  He says that you’ll be given a reduced sentence – ten years with the possibility of parole in seven.   Otherwise, he threatens, he’ll put you away for twenty-five.  Without money to hire an effective lawyer, you accept the offer.  Believe it or not, such a scenario is not unusual in America today.  Evidently something similar took place in St. Paul’s Corinth.

Paul writes the Corinthians not to take their cases to public court. He knows that many corrupt officials adjudicate there.  Better, he says, to have a hearing among the community where one can expect fairness.  After all, these are people who have repented of any previous wrong-doing.  They not only know right from wrong but have a sense of the heart yearning for justice.

Some wise people believe that the American penal system is broken.  It penalizes excessively the poor and allows the rich to get away with murder.  They advise a radical restructuring.  To contribute to a solution we should be honest in everything that we do.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(I Corinthians 6:1-11; Luke 6:12-19)

Paul’s list of wrongdoers in the first reading today is revealing. Most of the sinners transgress the boundaries of passion. Talk of the sexual revolution in the 1960s should not make us think that promiscuity was invented toward the end of the last century. The New Testament underscores the prevalence of sins of the flesh through the ages. In fact, we should note how Jesus as well as Paul emphasizes the power of God to spare humans the dismal consequences of illicit sex.

We might also take note of how Paul writes of “sodomites,” not “homosexuals.” The two are not co-terminus as not every homosexual engages in sexual activity. The necessary distinction reminds us that homosexuality itself is not immoral and that homosexuals deserve the same respect as any other person. In fact, in the present age of sexual license homosexual adults living chastely deserve admiration.

Most noteworthy about the passage, however, is the primacy of communal conflict on Paul’s list of vices. Christians are not to fight publicly with one another since open hostility undermines the reputation of the Church as well as its unity. Disagreements will erupt in any human organization, but they are to be resolved peacefully. Paul’s emphasis on unity indicates the social nature of sin. When Christians sin, they not only offend God but also one another. The Church has a mission to be a light to the world. Sin dims that light so that non-Christians may not know Christ.

Homilette for Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Memorial of St. Peter Claver, priest

(I Corinthians 6:1-11)

Paul’s list of wrongdoers in the first reading today is revealing. Most of the sinners transgress the boundaries of passion. Talk of the “sexual revolution” almost makes it seem that sexual sins were invented toward the end of the last century. The New Testament, however, underscores the prevalence of sins of the flesh down through the ages. In fact, we should note how Jesus as well as Paul emphasizes the power of God to spare humans the dismal consequences of illicit sexual gratification.

We might also take note of how Paul writes of “sodomites,” not “homosexuals.” The two are not co-terminus as not every homosexual engages in sexual activity. The necessary distinction reminds us that being homosexual is not immoral and that homosexuals deserve the same respect as any other person. In fact, in the present age of sexual license homosexual adults living chastely may deserve admiration.

Most noteworthy about the passage, however, is the primacy of communal conflict on Paul’s list of vices. Christians are not to fight publicly with one another since open conflict undermines the reputation of the Church as well as its unity. Disagreements will erupt in any human organization, but they are to be resolved amicably. Paul’s emphasis on unity indicates the social nature of sin. When Christians sin, they not only offend God but also one another. The Church has a mission to be a light to the world. Sin dims that light so that non-Christians may not know Christ.