Word to the Wise
Monday, September 5, 2022 - 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 doubt, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our Paschal Lam, 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 Cor.]
As someone who enjoys baking bread, I am aware of the power of that little brown powder called yeast. St. Paul's image is a specifically Jewish one because it refers to the original passover in which the Jews had to eat unleavened bread and a lamb that was to be sacrificed in a special way. Unleavened bread, therefore, had to be eaten at every subsequent celebration of their delivery from slavery in Egypt. In the case of the Corinthians, however, St. Paul refers to yeast as the influence of an instance of immoral conduct (incest, adultery) on the whole community. (Perhaps the old adage of "one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel" can capture his meaning.)
The influence of one or two persons on an entire community cannot be overemphasized! A single immoral but charismatic person can lead an entire community astray! St. Paul saw this and wrote accordingly to the community which he had labored long and hard to create. The old yeast of malice and wickedness had to be "cast out" and a new beginning created. We try to do this over and over again in the sacrament of Reconciliation, but that is an individual thing. How does an entire community deal with the misconduct of an individual which is having a corrupting effect? This takes time and love and firm compassion aimed at conversion of life, rejection of the corrupt behavior and an embrace of "sincerity and truth." AMEN