Constancy and Faithfulness

Homily for Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the first reading, St. Paul is addressing concerns about his integrity and reliability. Some in Corinth had accused him of being inconsistent because he changed his travel plans. Paul responds by emphasizing that, just as God is faithful, his message about Christ is unwavering.

He explains that Jesus Christ is not "Yes and No" but always "Yes"—meaning that all of God's promises find their fulfillment in Christ. Paul reassures the Corinthians that his preaching, along with that of Silvanus and Timothy, has been consistent and truthful. He further states that God has established believers in Christ, anointed them, and given them the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their faith. Christ, Paul, and the Corinthians all participate in analogous ways in the constancy of God. A number of the terms here, which appear related only conceptually in Greek or English, would be variations of the same root word in Hebrew, and thus naturally associated in a Semitic mind, such as Paul’s. These include the words yes, faithful, Amen, gives us security, faith, and stand firm. Consequently, the vocabulary that St. Paul uses in this passage connotes the idea of consistency and the truth. Just as God’s promises are certain, St. Paul’s preaching is certain.

In the Gospel text for today, Jesus speaks to his disciples about their presence in the world as salt, light, and the city set on a hill. This passage dovetails neatly into the passage from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. In other words, it is not enough to simply say “yes,” one must also be actively involved in the day-to-day world in order to draw others to faith in Jesus Christ.

As we receive the Eucharist today, Jesus fulfills his promise to be with us always. Just as the promises of God are certain, the promises made by Jesus are also reliable and certain.