As we open the First Letter to the Corinthians today, we hear St. Paul praise the citizens of Corinth for “all discourse and knowledge.” While he pays the Corinthians this compliment, I must admit that I was somewhat startled by it because of what he did not say. In addressing the Thessalonians, St. Paul praised them because their faith flourished, and because the love of every one of them for one another was growing ever greater. There simply is no contest when comparing discourse and knowledge with faith and charity. As a matter of fact, St. Paul never complimented the Corinthians quite as strongly as he did the communities of Thessalonica and Philippi.
St. Paul is quite practical and realistic in both his letters to the Church of Corinth. He realizes that this community will struggle with the faith because of their location and the diversity of their population. Corinth was a major trade port of Asia Minor and attracted many people because of its wealth. In addition, it was also known for people who were living less than a chaste way of life. It was the site of a Temple to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, known as the goddess of love, but really an excuse for sexual excesses. St. Paul realized from the very beginning that this site would struggle with the Christian faith from the very outset of his preaching there.
Armed with this knowledge, St. Paul approached the Corinthians with the urgency of the Gospel, and in particular with the urgency of being prepared. He reminded them that no one could foretell the future, that no one was sure that they would have a tomorrow.
This sense of urgency is something that we also must embrace. When we wake up each morning, none of us knows what will happen that day. Are we prepared for it all to end? When we celebrated the beginning of a new year on January 1, none of had any thought of all that would happen this year – a crippling pandemic, rioting in many cities, terrible fires and horrific hurricanes. So like the Corinthians, we need to be prepared. We are asked to judge every action from the possibility of the Lord’s sudden return like a thief in the night, when we least expect. Today the Scriptures ask us to be practical and diligent, to be men and women of vision and moral perspective, to be prayerful and personally aware of the surprising coming of the Lord Jesus.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator