Sinful Corinth

It has been some time since I have had the time to add to my “almost daily” blog.  In addition to a rather heavy work load, I am dealing with an infection and an abscess that has been somewhat painful and has limited my ability to walk as gingerly as I would like.  However, as I know each CUSAN realizes, this “cross” is another valuable gift from God through which I can sanctify my life as long as I carry it willingly.

Currently, the Scriptures for our daily liturgy have been focusing our attention on the First Letter to the Corinthians.  After the Letter to the Romans, this is a most important of letter from St. Paul.  The community of Corinth had been founded by Paul.  He spent at least a year there as he established the local community and taught them the Gospel.  When he left to move on to his next endeavor, he remained close to the community of Corinth and received regular correspondence from the leaders of the community.

It would be helpful to understand the city of Corinth in order to understand St. Paul’s letter.  Corinth sits 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 than to sail 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.  Because so many sailors were present in the city, there was a thriving community of Corinthian prostitutes attached to the Temple of Athena.  The healthy trade business also 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.

Once St. Paul left and moved on to another venture, the community experienced the usual “backsliding.”  A number of the Christians fell back into their immoral behaviors.  These were reported to St. Paul by the community leaders.  Consequently, many verses of the First Letter to the Corinthians are filled with St. Paul scolding the community for immoral behavior.  Today’s passage is a good example.  Someone in the community has become involved in an incestuous relationship and has been a scandal among the members of the community.

Incest, adultery, fornication, and sexual abuse are nothing new.  These sins have been part of the human reality since the beginning of time.  Prostitution is not called the “world’s oldest profession” by accident.  Ordinarily, I don’t write about such sins in the blog.  I may be naïve about it; however, I don’t think of my readers as being the ones that need to hear about such matters.  However, there is no question that these sins are part of our reality and probably will be as long as human sexuality is trivialized as it is in so much of our mass media.  It is almost impossible to watch a situation comedy on television wherein sexual issues are not the subject of laughs.  Sex and intimate relationships have become recreational rather than a model of holy sharing.  St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians is, therefore, just as important today as it ever was. 

As CUSANS, we try to offer our chronic pain and frustration with our illnesses and disability to God as sacrifices for the good of the Church.  Today, let us pray for all those who are trapped in human sexual trafficking as well as for those who have forgotten that God’s gift of our sexuality is a great gift that is not to be abused.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator