Today’s second reading has some tremendous words for us. However, many times one verse received so much focus that the other was lost. Remember, we are coming from a time when the focus was always on sin. So, often people preached to avoid sin and spoke about those ways people fell into sin. This is an important part of preaching but when it becomes the exclusive message that is a problem.
If you notice my message, it is when we avoid sin we become more able to live in God’s wisdom. Through divine wisdom, we learn why we should avoid sin and come to a deeper understanding of sin.
So let us look at the second reading and you will see that the rules of grammar in English maybe distracted Catholics in the United States for a few centuries from listening to the true message.
Paul says that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Now, there is a word in the English language used commonly in different parts of this country that English teachers hate, especially in the NorthEast. I have been using the word since I was in boot camp and I enjoy it because it literally has a grammatically correct counterpart in other languages.
To whom am I speaking right now? Am I speaking to you and you and you or I am speaking to all of you?
If I am speaking to the whole congregation I am speaking to you. However, if I am only speaking to you (points at one person) then I am speaking to you.
You see in English, unlike other languages the word for you singular is the same as the word for you plural, in the Southern United States that is not true. It may be because the Southern United States was colonized by the Spanish which has words for you singular and you plural. Indeed between the two elements, there are four words. The same with Portuguese, etc.
So, the word we are not supposed to use in polite company is y’all. Which means you all. It is the slang English version of you plural which our language does not have.
So let me ask you this question: How many remember when they taught you that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit? This is exactly what St. Paul says right here. Teacher, is it ok to have a Tattoo? Well, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You would not want to deface God’s temple.
So are you the Temple of the Holy Spirit or are y’all? You understand there is a huge difference between the two. If you are the temple of the Holy Spirit then you are all that temple individually. If y’all are the temple of the Holy Spirit then we together are that temple. So what does Paul say?
He says y’all. “Y’all are the temple of the Holy Spirit.” The Church teaches that each of us has a soul but that the Holy Spirit is the Soul of the Church. The Church is the Body of Christ so the Holy Spirit is the soul.
Because people got so distracted by that term, they did not see the next passage.
Paul brings forth a condemnation found throughout the Bible. Do not be wise in this age. Be wise in the wisdom of God which is the theme we have looked at over the past three weeks all from this first letter to the Corinthians.
Paul warns us to humbly be open to God’s wisdom so that we will not be wise in this age but in God’s wisdom.
We are watching exactly the consequence of this idea.
God is the creator of life and as Catholics, we are called to respect that and teach that.
Ok, we know Massachusetts is a state of highly educated people. That is wonderful but we need to invite the wise in this age to also be wise in God’s wisdom.
In the Massachusetts Legislature, there was a bill fortunately voted down that would basically enable prisoners to donate their organs for time off from a sentence. What really killed me with this bill was the maximum time would be three hundred and sixty-five days. You can get a full year off your sentence if you just donate a kidney.
St. John Paul II and St. Mother Teresa warned that if you did not protect the most vulnerable then it would spill out to the rest of society. Do you see the potential for corruption and abuse in this system?
Do you know why the Nazis went after the Jews? There were several reasons and it was not just because they were Jews.
When the Nazis sent the Jews to concentration camps, they also took their money. That is one of the reasons why went after the Jews to help finance their goals.
Now go back to the potential for disaster with a program that takes the second most vulnerable group who are overwhelmingly black and Hispanic and makes a deal with them for a year off their sentence for an organ.
Now, do you see what happens when we decide that we are smarter than God? Disaster and this is the message of the our faith. Be humble before the Lord and channel his love and wisdom and you will bring peace to the world.
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V-0220 Homily: Beware of Those Wise in Their Own Estimation