Word to the Wise
Monday, September 5, 2016 - Monday in the 23th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Cor 5:1-8 and Luke 6:6-11]Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our Paschal Lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. [1 Corinthians]
I like to bake bread. I do it the old-fashioned way by hand and I use a bread machine as well. I also can reach in the fridge and pull out that jar of yeast. A couple of teaspoons usually is all that I need. It is fascinating to see what that bit of brown powder can do to a big wet lump of flour. The folks in St. Paul's time didn't have that jar of yeast. They saved some of the previous batch of flour and used that (a little like the bourbon making process I observed up in Kentucky). Since the Passover meal had to be eaten with unleavened bread, the old yeast could not be used. St. Paul is telling the Corinthians that with their conversion as a result of the sacrifice of Christ, they should become like the unleavened bread. The old yeast of malice and wickedness that once ruled their lives would no longer be appropriate. If we look at the first part of this scripture, we can see why he says this. Corinth could be like one big Bourbon Street!
Yeast makes a big difference. Sincerity and truth make a big difference if they rule our lives in faith. What is the basis of our character, which influences everything we do? This is what virtue is all about. Unlike our DNA, we can create a new batch of yeast by letting God's grace work its way in us and cooperating with it. St. Thomas Aquinas said it well: "Grace builds on nature." I wonder if he could bake? AMEN
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