Unpromising situations
Dear People of St. Boniface,
It must be said that many of what people take to be my most ‘famous sayings’ arose from unpromising situations.
So “Let us feast on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” [1 Cor 5:7 Easter Sunday] arises from a case of sexual immorality in Corinth; my words on the institution of the Eucharist [1 Cor 11:23 Holy Thursday] arise from cases of greed and gluttony at community meals; my words on the Spirit [Gal 5:22] from believers being led astray by false teachers; and even my famous words on love [1 Cor 13] from arguments about “who had the greatest gifts?”
So it is in the reading today, which is a very early Christian hymn, originally in Aramaic, which I had learnt by heart and could thus use here, even though I wrote the letter from prison, with no reference books. The Christians of Philippi in nothern Greece were extremely dear to me, and generous too, but they were suffering from disputes among some of their leaders, as well as from non-Christians in the city who wanted them rounded up, and, yet again, from false teachers who wanted to make them all Jews as part of the Christian ‘package’.
You are now entering Holy Week which can be a fraught time for there is so much to do and prepare. I do hope that you likewise find great spiritual riches even among the possible rows and arguments!
My blessing, from Heaven, PAUL