Cause for Distress in Corinth

Homily for Tuesday of the Twenty-third week in Ordinary Time

St. Paul is obviously upset about the conduct of the community that he left behind in Corinth. He had spent a year there establishing the Christian community in this city of Greece. Once he left, he was regularly updated about the community and its activity by the members of the household of a woman named Chloe. Much of his first letter to the community of Corinth deals with the difficulties that have been reported to him.

Corinth sat at an important spot on the Grecian peninsula.  It is found at the narrowest point on the isthmus that separates the Ionian Sea from the Aegean Sea.  It became, therefore, an important city on a trade route.  Because of its location, it proved more economical to offload the cargo of a vessel and carry it across the isthmus to another ship rather than sailing around the peninsula itself.  It was, consequently, a bustling seaport with people from all over the world.  There had been a strong Jewish community there as well as a number of different Gentile communities. The healthy trade business brought with it the usual examples of greed and corruption.  St. Paul’s efforts to build up a Christian community were, therefore, often thwarted by the local population.

One of the more important topics that Paul addresses in this letter is that of sexual morality. He addresses the unmarried people as well as those who have taken a spouse. He speaks of the problems that exist in clear and direct language. Because of its location and the many different people who traveled through Corinth, and because of the fact that Corinth was the site of the Temple of Athena which included at least 200 temple prostitutes, sexual immorality was a large problem for this community. He reminds the people that they are members of the body of Christ and that, consequently, sins of this nature were sins against the body of Christ.

Any struggles we face today in our secularized culture are not new to the church or to society as a whole. In St. Paul’s time and today, sexual immorality is not only practiced but celebrated. St. Paul reminds them that they are no longer who they used to be, but in baptism and in Christ, they are washed, sanctified, and “justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God.” Consequently, they and we have a future in the kingdom of heaven whenever it comes to fulfillment if they hold fast to the faith that he preached and the promises that were given through baptism.