Word to the Wise
Saturday, September 6, 2014 - Saturday in the 22th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Cor 4:6b-15 and Luke 6:1-5]"Who confers distinction upon you? What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it?" [1 Cor.]
The "class system" was alive and well in Jesus' time and in Paul's time. The community in Corinth was composed of folks from different "classes" of people. There were merchants, artisans, slaves, aristocrats, etc.! Some were fairly well off, and others were poor. It seems clear from Paul's admonition in today's first scripture that some folks in the community were "flaunting" their wealth. He will address this problem in greater detail later on in the letter [11:17-34] when he treats of conduct at the celebration of the Eucharist. However, today he asks an interesting question that I think all of us can ponder with benefit: "What do you possess that you have not received?"
We have an old expression: "Count your blessings!" When we count them, do we see them as things we "earned" or "deserved" or "made?" I am reminded of the phrase from the Book of Job: "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Although we have a cultural admiration for the "self-made" person, our faith should tell us there is no such thing! God has given us three tremendous gifts: life, others to love, and a place to be. Without these gifts we would not exist at all. We did not create ourselves and we do not ultimately "own" anything. Paul has to remind the Corinthians of this fundamental reality, and in doing so, he reminds us too! AMEN
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