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Today, we jump back into our sequential reading of the first several chapters of 1 Corinthians. Two weeks ago, when we last read for this letter, the Holy Spirit was reminding us of the cross of Christ and how foolish it looks to many people. Today, he picks up with that same point.

The second readings take a brief break from 1 Corinthians this week for a reading from Hebrews as we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation. This feast has become particularly close to my heart in the past several years. As my wife and I wrestle with raising a young family and with trying to pass on a living faith to them, this feast is a welcome glimpse into the Holy Family’s own religious practices. The struggles and the glorious moments are intertwined in this event from Jesus’ family life as they are in all our families’ lives.

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.