Illogical

Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Readings for Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Reflection:

Today we are confronted with a difficult passage from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, we are given more to chew on regarding being ready of the end (eschaton), and there are no Saints to distract us from the issues before us. (unless we want to stretch it and memorialize one of the 27 other Saints whose day is today.)

Since we did deal somewhat with the theme of being ready yesterday, today, as odd as the reading reads, we will tackle wisdom and eloquence. First, what the heck was Paul talking about? We need to understand that this is the beginning of has discourse on the subject so his thoughts will unfold later and scripture becomes plainer. According to tradition, Paul was dealing with two populations in Corinth, the Jews, for whom Christ was problematic, and the Greeks, whose logic examined the Lord’s virgin birth and resurrection, and laughed.

While he deals with each population individually later in this letter, let’s look at one huge statement he gives us in the selection for today: “…but we proclaim Christ crucified.” This is huge because it is the very bedrock of our belief in the Lord’s immense sacrifice and all that flows from it. It has been said that at the heart of all we say and do, we should be proclaiming Christ, and Him crucified.

Why “…and Him crucified”? It is because by this act he confounded the Jews and refuted the logic of the Greeks. By this act he proclaimed victory that, to the Jews and Greeks, seemed a defeat. By this act he transformed the idea of the triumphant Messiah that had been expected by the Zionists and defined God’s Kingdom as not of this earth but eternal in Heaven. By this act, Jesus, true God and true man, demonstrated the inestimable love God has for us by sealing the new covenant with the Blood of the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world. He defeated death and, as he told his disciples, he now sits with His Father, our Father, in Heaven.

Yes, in all we do as Christians we should proclaim Christ, and Him Crucified. It is our ill-logical, ineloquent proclamation of this counter intuitive event that opens a gate to salvation and eternal life that would otherwise remain closed. It is like looking at an image created in an unknown medium that appears to be gibberish, but to the trained eye provides a code of revelation. It is a thought that can only be expressed in a language the wise cannot understand.

We have gotten a bit deep on the philosophical side here and need to take it back to the practical. Just as in the day of Paul, there are people who look at our beliefs and either find them problematic (Those who choose a path of self-indulgent greed and an unjust approach to the less fortunate). There will be those whose logic refuses to accept even the existence of God, let alone Christ and the Holy Spirit. They will either try to impede our work in God’s name or refute our beliefs, sometimes publicly and often brutally. We need to bend like Paul does. We need to stay the course in the face of adversity, even when that adversity is sometimes legislated.

That is the call today. Yesterday it was be ready (echoed today by five of ten virgins). Today it is; “Be faithful to Christ, and Him crucified.”

Pax