Nothing to Boast About

Homily for Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

In verse eleven of this particular letter of St. Paul, we read: “It has been reported to me about you, my brothers… that there are rivalries among you.” What exactly were the rivalries about? Human beings by their very nature are usually competitive. However, I think it’s safe to say that the people of Corinth were bragging about something that is surely of little consequence; namely, they were boasting about who had baptized them.

In response to this competition, St. Paul asks them to consider who they were before they were baptized. Then he reminds them that most of them had not been remarkable for their wisdom, for their status, or for their power over others. It was a polite way of saying that they didn’t have much about which to boast so they turned to competing about who had baptized them.

In today’s fast-paced, competitive world where everyone’s “achievements” are publicly announced on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, everyone else’s success can begin to make us feel inadequate or insecure guessing whether they are more successful, more intelligent, or more influential. It may even force individuals to wonder if they have anything to offer to God and to the world, or if they are just wasting their potential. St. Paul makes it very clear that God does not measure us by the standards of the world. He does not care how many degrees we possess, how much has accumulated in our bank accounts, or how many sports or musical instruments we can play.  God cares about how much we depend upon the graces we have received.

God chose us, not because of our merits, but out of love for us. We were chosen not to make us proud, but to make us humble; not to exalt ourselves, but so we would exalt God. We were chosen not to be wise in our own eyes, but to be wise in choosing God’s way rather than our own. We were chosen not to be righteous, sanctified, and redeemed but to glorify God and God’s work in us.

The Eucharist we are about to receive brings us into communion with the God who loves us. May the graces we received today help us to see not only the talents God has given us, but also to appreciate what we have been given.