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Monday – Twenty-third Week – OT2
Readings: 1 Cor 5:1-8; Lk 6:6-11.
1/ First Reading: NAB 1 Corinthians 5:1 It is widely reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of a kind not found even among pagans– a man living with his father’s wife. 2 And you are inflated with pride. Should you not rather have been sorrowful? The one who did this deed should be expelled from your midst. 3 I, for my part, although absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as if present, pronounced judgment on the one who has committed this deed, 4 in the name of (our) Lord Jesus: when you have gathered together and I am with you in spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not appropriate. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? 7 Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
2/ Gospel: NAB Luke 6:6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the Sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. 8 But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” 10 Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. 11 But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
I. THEME: Must courageously correct scandals.
At St. Paul’s time, Corinth is a rich and sinful city. It is very difficult for the faithful of St. Paul’s newly established community to avoid sins which they were so used to them. In the sexual area, the Gentiles can’t understand the meaning of the virtue of chastity, they consider sexual activities are normal.
In the first reading, St. Paul warned the Corinthians once they belong to the holy Church, they must have courage to change the bad habits of their past life to put on the purified and truthful life according to the Gospel’s requirements. In the Gospel, some scribes and Pharisees set up a trap for Jesus by putting a man with withered hand in the synagogue to see if Jesus shall heal him on the Sabbath, Jesus courageously corrected their hypocrisy before he healed him.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: St. Paul condemned the one who committed incest and boasted about it in the Corinthian community.
Although Gentiles are those who have unrestrained sexual life, they also condemned sexual activity between parents and children, but this sin happened in the Corinthian community. St. Paul knew about this when he wrote to them: “It is widely reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of a kind not found even among pagans– a man living with his father’s wife.”
St. Paul not only condemned the one who committed incest but also the community because of their silence. They should correct and expel him from their community. Their silence didn’t help the sinner to recognize his sin but also caused a scandal in their community. St. Paul clearly expressed his standing on this problem, “I, for my part, although absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as if present, pronounced judgment on the one who has committed this deed.”
Therefore, to correct the one who committed the incest is their obligation, and he suggested to them a solution: “In the name of (our) Lord Jesus: when you have gathered together and I am with you in spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” To deliver someone to Satan is to expel him out of their community. However, out of love for him, the community still let the violator have an opportunity to repent and to be saved.
To explain how dangerous of bad examples posing for a community, St. Paul used two images of leaven and flour which none of the Jews is strange to these two images. Each year, to prepare for the Passover, the Jews used to carefully clean up their house, especially their kitchen where they store their leaven and flour. The reason why they do such thing is explained by St. Paul in today passage, “Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough? Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened.”
Similarly in people’s moral life, if people don’t completely terminate their old and bad habits, they shall gradually expand out in the community and stain others’ holiness. Paul compared the yeast with malice and wickedness, and the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” To prepare for the New Passover which Christ sacrificed himself as the Passover Lamb, the community must cleanse themselves from malice and wickedness; at the same time, they must put on purity and truth.
2/ Gospel: Jesus condemned some scribes and Pharisees.
Usually, those who were sick or who had their sick relatives, they followed Jesus and asked to be healed; but there is an unusual thing in today passage, that is, a man with a withered hand was already there, and used as a trap for Jesus to fall in so that the scribes and the Pharisees shall have a reason to condemn Jesus, as the Gospel reported: “On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the Sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.”
But they underestimated Jesus’ wisdom and power, he not only has power to heal but also wisdom to know their calculating intention to condemn him. In order to teach them a lesson, Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Those who wanted to persecute him now became the accused. They must know that the spirit of the Sabbath requires them to do good, but they were planning to accuse a good man as Jesus. The Sabbath requires them to value and to protect life, but they were condemning Jesus’ healing. As a thief who is caught when he is stealing, Jesus displayed their wicked intention before people, they were quiet.
Jesus could cure the man in a secret or other place, but he wanted to teach people a lesson about the need to discard bad examples and hypocrisy. Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. And St. Luke reported their reaction, “But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.” They were displayed all of their wicked intention; instead of repenting, they let their pride take control and they planned together another plan to kill Jesus.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– “Live near to ink shall become dark, and to lamp shall become light.” We knew that Mencius’ mother must change her house three times until she found an ideal living place for her son. Today many people make excuses of housing and job to live in a circumstance which is full of dangerous bad habits. To do like that, they sacrifice the future of their family for material thing. They must take full responsibility before God if their family members also commit sins as people around them.
– Today readings, instead of paying attention to changing living places, pay attention to the correction and expelling of bad habits so that people can live in a better environment.