Thursday of the
Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
(I Corinthians
8:1b-7.11-13; Luke 6:27-38)
St. Paul’s intention
in saying that “knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up” is somewhat
obscure. He seems to mean about the same
as the famous line of the English poet, Alexander Pope:
“A
little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink
deep, or test not the Pierian spring:
There
shallow draughts intoxicate the brain” …
Having learned only a
little, some think that they know a lot.
They should heed Socrates, one of the wisest people who ever lived. He told listeners that the more he knew, the
more he realized that he did not know.
Paul is not giving his
readers a theory of knowledge. Rather, he
wants them to value love more than knowledge or anything else. He will draw out this lesson later in the
letter. Here Paul is warning that those
who pride themselves with knowing what others don’t know should take care. They may do or say something that will cause
the downfall of a brother or sister in Christ.
If this happens, they will have to answer to God.
For love of Christ and
neighbor, we should avoid words and actions that may cause others to sin. Sometimes we do so without it being our
intention. We may only want to please
ourselves. But this is unacceptable for members
of Christ’s Church. As parts of his Body,
we cannot do or say anything without affecting other parts.
