Session 3 was held on Tuesday, July 15 from 7:15 to 9:00 pm. Fr. Sebastian presided. Fr Dennis was called away on family business. There was a GREAT turnout of over 100 parishioners. The hall was filled! Extra tables had to be set up!
Fr. Sebastian provided a copy of his notes (attached, P. 7-12) that were presented as a series of overhead slides.
Fr. Covered the second part of 1 Corinthians; Chapter 7-16. In this part Paul is responding to problems that threatened the UNITY of the Church in Corinth.
Five important areas are covered that relate to a credible Christian life (see the notes), for each area the problem/issue is stated and Paul’s answer is provided.
For 1—Marriage, Celibacy, and Divorce Paul is very much influenced by PAROUSIA—the end of time or the second coming. In these days men could divorce women but women could not divorce men! The new Christians believed that baptism was a rebirth & provided freedom so there was a tendency to “kick the men out of the house” by many of the women. Paul advised them to live out their baptism in this world and treat marriage as a partnership and sacrament not as a contract as the Romans viewed it. Paul also invoked the Pauline Privilege; divorce is ok if the non-believer party in the marriage PREVENTS the believer from practicing his/her faith. Paul also advised that parousia is imminent and all should stay in their present state; married, single, divorced, widowed, etc.
The celibate life is not easy and not for everyone; all should pray for the celibate men and women to give them strength.
For 2—The question of eating meat that had been offered to idols—which was a scandal in the community. Paul advised to hurt none of the Christians and to avoid sin in all its forms, giving up any “privileges” to avoid offense to brothers and sisters.
For 3—The issue of women’s headdress and the length of the hair. It is NOT about subordination. Conventional appearance shows respect and decency. Customs such as these can change but the customs must be respected. Paul was against short hair based on the interpretation of the 2nd Chapter of Genesis; man came from God and woman came from man. So when a woman does not cover her head she shows disrespect to God—trying to be like God. Also in Genesis chapter 6 angels are tempted by women who do not cover their heads; so this should be avoided. Today we need to be respectful and wear appropriate dress when we come to mass. Remember that Christ is present in the Eucharist and we should dress for him at least as well as we would dress for a meeting with the Pope!
On this issue of discrimination in the celebration of the Lord’s supper; The rich people often gathered before mass to share a meal but the poor were only invited to the “reception”. Paul recommended an examination of conscience in such matters and the promotion of communion and conversion within the whole community. The washing of the feet by Jesus was symbolic of cleaning up and getting back on the path of Christ before receiving the Eucharist.
For 4—The Sharing of Gifts and talents; The church consists of one body made up of many parts that cooperate. The body is incomplete without all the parts.
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