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Last week we saw that there were some serious divisions in the Church in Corinth in the 50’s A.D. Those divisions are on full display in today’s second reading. Many Corinthians has lost sight of the importance of Jesus Christ and of the Gospel and were instead focused on their favorite minister of the Gospel. Two of the biggest problems in Corinth were pride and selfishness, which always cause division. Sounds a little like our Church and our nation today, doesn’t it?

Now that Ordinary Time has begun, we’ll be spending from now until Lent begins in the first four chapters of Saint Paul’s First Letter for the Corinthians. To allow the Holy Spirit to speak more clearly to us through these readings, let’s get some context of this letter. Imagine a Church divided, filled with careless liturgy, struggling to find its way in a culture hostile to it, a culture of division and lawsuits that misunderstands of marriage and sexuality. Imagine a Church unsure of how it should interact with the wider culture. Is this the Catholic Church of today or the Catholic Church in Corinth in the 50’s A.D.? It could describe both equally well.

For Epiphany, we reflected on the universal scope of Jesus' mission through the figures of the Magi. These figures in our Nativity scenes often are depicted as European, Asian, and African to emphasize that Jesus came for all people. This week, the Holy Spirit is emphasizing the same point in our second reading: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” Anyone from anywhere can follow Jesus’ example, receive Baptism, and join God’s family.

On this Feast of Epiphany, Saint Paul reminds us of his own epiphany: that Jesus Christ is Messiah and Lord and that his promises are for everyone. This universal scope of Jesus’s mission is often lost on us. We would find it appalling if Jesus came only for one ethnicity. But we also can’t entirely fault the Chosen People of the Bible. There are two parallel strands of thought running throughout the Old Testament that finally converge with Jesus.

In the first few centuries of the Church, Christians developed a language for describing the incredible event of the Incarnation. What does it mean that God became a man? In 451, the Council of Ephesus described this mystery in terms of Mary, calling her theotokos, the God-bearer, the Mother of God. Since at least the thirteenth century, January 1 has been a celebration of Mary’s maternity, and since 1960 we have called this day the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

Christmas is not simply a necessary first step in the salvation transaction. It’s not even primarily a nostalgic story about how humble God is and all the things he’s willing to do for us. We cannot simply approach Christmas as an epic tale of long ago adventures somewhere across the ocean, because Christmas is not about the past. It’s about you, right now. 

This week’s second reading is the introductory preamble to Saint Paul’s great letter to the Romans. This letter is unique among his letters in a few related ways. He is not writing to address the problems or questions of a specific community. Rather, Saint Paul is writing to a community he has not visited before in order to lay out the basics of his message before he gets there. Because of these circumstances, Romans can be said to be Saint Paul’s systematic presentation of what it means to be a Christian. It is well worth taking the time to read all 16 chapters of Romans this week.

This week’s second reading makes two references to the coming of the Lord. The word “coming” in James’ original Greek is parousia, an important term for the Early Church meaning “coming” or “presence.” It has a very similar meaning to the Latin-based “Advent,” meaning “coming” or “arrival.” In this particular reading at this particular time of year, the Holy Spirit is giving us a wide-ranging play on words.

Today, the Bible gets personal. The Holy Spirit is informing us that “whatever was written previously was written for our instruction.” Worded another way, whatever the Holy Spirit inspired the authors of the Bible to write, he inspired them so that he could speak to you and to me.

Happy Liturgical New Year! At the outset of this new year, the Holy Spirit just issued a wake-up call in today’s second reading. This Advent Season, we need to wake up from our spiritual lethargy.