3d Sunday in Ordinary Time

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17

 

“… that there be no divisions among you …”

 

I am deviating from the custom of reflecting on the gospel and turning my prayerful thoughts instead to Paul’s epistle which cautions against the rivalries that had sprung up amongst various Christians who began to see themselves as followers of Paul or Apollos or Cephas, etc. rather than as true followers of Christ.

 

This passage seems so timely in view of the discord which we see amongst we who call ourselves Christians today.  And these divisions are no less troubling now than they were in the First Century.

 

Paul concludes with a call to unity  “… so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.”

 

There are differences and there are divisions. They are not the same thing.  If the meaning of the cross is that we should love one another as He loved us – with total sacrifice and with the intent to forgive, heal and draw us closer to our Heavenly Father to experience His divine peace and joy – then we must realize that we might be true to that meaning even if we think, see or speak a bit differently, but not if we seek to divide and it becomes “us” versus “them” and not “we.”

 

A quick example:  There are those who prefer to experience the Eucharist in English.  There are those who prefer Latin.  Each claims that their experience brings them into a closer relationship with God.  That’s good.  Isn’t that what we all seek?  Each simply has the same experience differently.  The meaning of the cross of Christs remains intact.  However, when a person in one camp tells a person in the other camp, “My way is the better way” (Holier, more reverent, superior) then Christ’s cross is rendered meaningless.  There is no charity, there is no love, there is no healing, there is no forgiveness.  There is no joy.  There is no peace. 

 

It is a reminder of the famous adage first espoused by Marco Antonio de Dominis.* 

 

“In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity.”

 

As St. Paul challenges us today, “Is Christ divided?”  No.  He loves us all.  I am reminded that I must do the same.

 

 “Call Me Ishmael”

 

*For an ironic (and perhaps even humorous) twist that, perhaps, underscores Paul’s epistle check this article on the origin of the quote Marco Antonio de Dominis