The Third Sunday of the Year Is 8:23 – 9:3; 1 Cor 1:10-13; Mt 4:12-23 (year a)
‘I appeal to you brothers, for the sake of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to make up the differences between you, and instead of disagreeing among yourselves, be united again in your belief and in your practice.”
St Paul’s plea to the fledgling church of Corinth was in response to the bitter divisions that had overwhelmed this community from its beginning. The questions that divided Corinth long ago continue to divide today, especially those concerning leadership, sexual morality and the nature of the resurrection from the dead.
Paul would address these concerns in the body of his letter. His deeper insight, borne of this bitter strife, speaks to all generations and the root causes of all dissension and fragmentation.
People of faith readily confess that Christ is the Lord of their lives. This fundamental faith, so easily spoken, is readily displaced in times of stress and disagreement. The frailty of our sinful humanity has a tendency, when challenged, to assert itself and its own agenda above everything else. When this happens, whether consciously or unconsciously, we have allowed ourselves, rather than Christ, to become the Lord of our lives. For this reason Paul insisted, over and over again, that he preached not himself, but Christ crucified: folly to the world, but salvation to all who believed in him.
This sinful assertion of self divides nations and peoples. More immediately, it has the power to destroy families and local communities. Let us pray that Christ, rather than past resentments, might nurture our continuing relationships.
Long ago the prophet Isaiah had promised a Messiah who would bring light to the darkness of sinful division and alienation. Jesus identified himself as that light. On the shores of Galilee he invited his first disciples to “Come, follow me.” Matthew’s Gospel emphasises the alacrity with which they turned from the work of a lifetime to follow him. “And they left their nets at once and followed him.” The universal call of Christ, while lacking the drama of that first call to Peter and his companions, comes to all. For prayerful and reflective lives it is persistent. We might not be called to an immediate change of livelihood, but frequently we shall be called to no less immediate changes of heart and attitude.
Christ does not simply call. Through the Holy Spirit he also enables. With his grace we can discern what must be left behind, and what must be embraced in the joy of his presence.
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