SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(Jeremiah 17:5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:12.16-20; Luke 6:17.20-26
Instead of reflecting on the gospel today, let's examine the
second reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians. Not only is First Corinthians
worthy of attention, but today it deals with the most central issue of
Christianity -- the resurrection of the dead.
At the beginning of the letter St. Paul writes that he had
received in Ephesus emissaries from the Christian community in Corinth. He says
that they reported that the community was being divided by various issues of
both faith and morals. Because he founded this community, he considers himself
its father and will do anything he can so that it does not dissolve into
pieces. He writes the letter to encourage unity and to correct the community’s errors.
Today's reading comes from the end of the letter. Paul has already
dealt with the other topics of concern. There remains the issue of the
resurrection. Some members of the community have said that there is no
resurrection from the dead. This news has deeply disturbed Paul. It means not
just a misunderstanding of the faith, but its trivialization. As he says, “For
if the dead are not raised, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ
has not been raised, your faith is in vain…”
If faith disappears, all the advantages that faith provides
disappear as well. There would be no Holy Spirit and no hope of eternal life.
Christians would have no help in living righteously. They would become like
other people, slaves to their passions, heedless of others, destined for
corruption. As Paul says, “If the dead are not raised, 'let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.'”
But Paul knows that the reality is a different matter. As he
has outlined earlier in the letter, the resurrection from the dead lies at the
heart of the teaching transmitted by the apostles. Not only this, but the
resurrected Christ has also appeared to him as well as to hundreds of other men
and women. These appearances imply his main argument for the resurrection from
the dead. That is, the resurrection of Christ -- the first fruits raised from
the dead -- ensures that all faithful Christians, who make up his body, will
also be resurrected. As he writes: “…just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all
will be made alive.”
Paul does not write in the letter that the deniers of the
resurrection of Christians do not believe in the resurrection of Christ.
Evidently these deniers say that Christ’s resurrection has provided them with a
spirit of freedom so that they can do whatever they like. It is as if someone
today, boasting that he is “saved,” feels free to exploit others. However, Paul
is careful to say in his letter that people are only in the process of being
saved. If they do not live the faith, including its morals, they will not
attain salvation.
Today there is no shortage of people who have abandoned
faith in the resurrection. They give scientific explanations to justify their
position. But it is the same mistake of finding an excuse to satisfy one’s
passions as was made in St. Paul's time. Without moderation of one’s passions, that
the hope of eternal life necessitates, they are inclined to all kinds of sin.
Let us not be led astray by the sophistry. We know that the natural order does
not allow for resurrection from the dead. However, we are not appealing to the
natural order when we speak of the resurrection but to the supernatural. As God
became human, as the crucified Christ redeemed the world, as the Holy Spirit
has guided the Church for two thousand years, so will the resurrection happen
at the end of time to those who love God. Our bodies will be resurrected to
live eternally with our almighty Lord.
