This blog follows the daily bible readings of the Catholic Church

Reading 1, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and Sosthenes, our brother, 2 to the church of God in Corinth, to those who have been consecrated in Christ Jesus and called to be God’s holy people, with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord as well as ours. 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I am continually thanking God about you, for the grace of God which you have been given in Christ Jesus; 5 in him you have been richly endowed in every kind of utterance and knowledge; 6 so firmly has witness to Christ taken root in you. 7 And so you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; 8 he will continue to give you strength till the very end, so that you will be irreproachable on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 You can rely on God, who has called you to be partners with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

ancient corinth-an affluent city

This is the beginning of one of the genuine letter of Paul, written probably while he was in Ephesus. He had received information from “Chloe’s people” about cliques within the church, and he may have already been dealing with a report of sexual misconduct. Above all in this letter he’s concerned spiritual arrogance which manifests itself in treating the poor badly, giving too much weight to flashy behaviour like speaking in tongues and in permitting a travesty of the Lord’s Supper. In this introduction he gives hints of his lines of criticism: the Corinthians are called to be “God’s holy people” (with high moral standards) in company with “all those everywhere who call on the name of Jesus” (perhaps especially the poor of Jerusalem whom they are asked to help). Their rich endowment comes from the “grace they have been given” (not from their own achievement), and they “await the return of the Lord Jesus” (who will see whether they are “irreproachable” or not). God has called them to be “partners with his Son”. Paul uses the Greek word koinonia, often translated fellowship but here correctly as partnership, because it is a secular word used of business enterprises. The Corinthians are not the only ones in this business: they are in partnership with Jesus. The subtlety and force of Paul’s theology is already evident as is the shrewdness with which he applies it. This letter could be called “To the Affluent Christians” and is very useful to all comfy believers today.

Gospel, Matthew 24:42-51

42 ‘So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. 43 You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. 44 Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

45 ‘Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy servant whom the master placed over his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed that servant if his master’s arrival finds him doing exactly that. 47 In truth I tell you, he will put him in charge of everything he owns. 48 But if the servant is dishonest and says to himself, “My master is taking his time,” 49 and sets about beating his fellow-servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, 50 his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. 51 The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’

This parable is also a warning to disciples that they should reckon on the return of their Master. Jesus famously compares himself to a burglar at night; and cautions against laxity, arrogance, and abuse of others.

The divine burglar

There seems to be no doubt that the first Christians, possibly with the encouragement of Jesus, believed that he would return soon in judgment. They believed that with the resurrection of Jesus, the last days had begun and would not last long. Not many Christians today, except those who make money out spinning last day scenarios, believe this. We should not disguise what a change this is. It involves a greater acceptance of the world and its ways than those early Christians who expected the “world as it was” to end soon.

Partly this change is forced upon us by history: the world has not come to an end; Jesus has not returned and all attempts to predict the date of the end have ended in embarrassing failure. (Like the guys who went up Mont Blanc to await the end and had to come back down eventually, admitting they hadn’t enough money to pay their hotel bill.)

The substitute offered by the church is the individual judgment we will face at our own deaths. This is not at all the same thing, as it does not involve the judgment of the world, but it does hold out the prospect of an encounter with the Lord Jesus. From personal experience, I can say that as that day comes nearer, the thought of bad behaviour is less appealing than it once was.

The faith of the church is that it will be a gracious judgment rather than a damning one, and that is my hope.