Sunday, January 25, 2026 - 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Isa 8:23b-9:3; 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17; Matt 4:12-23 or 4:12-17,37]
For it has been reported to me about you....that there are rivalries among you. I mean that each of you is saying, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." Is Christ divided: Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning. [1 Corinthians]
In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul appeals for unity of faith in the gospel and not in any particular leader or baptizer. The message is more important than the messenger. The four gospels themselves were written either during his lifetime or after, so the early Christian communities did not have a "New Testament" to refer to, as we do! They were written in large part to get various communities "on message!" The "gospel" that Paul preached focuses on the cross and resurrection of Jesus but has little to say about his life and ministry. How strange it would seem to us now if we had only the oral preaching, plus one or two letters, as the foundations for our faith! The Gospel According to Matthew, which, like the Gospel According to Luke, borrows a lot from the Gospel According to Mark, gives us a broader understanding of the "good news" of Jesus Christ, as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
The divisions that Paul refers to have their own version in the church today as Catholics differ in their attachment to the person and writings of different popes! This kind of division can occur even on a local level when personal allegiance to a particular pastor makes it difficult for the one who eventually takes his place! The words of St. Paul, written to a Greek community about 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, have a very clear relevance to the universal church of today. Both preacher and community need to remember that the message is more important than the messenger! AMEN
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