The Holy Myrrh-bearer and Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene; Return of the Relics of the Priest-Martyr Phocas
1 Corinthians 7:35-8:7; Matthew 15:29-31
Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read 1 Corinthians 7:35-8:7
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
In today’s passage from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we read different pieces of advice he gave to the community concerning marriage and food offered to idols. Paul and the early Christian communities believed that Christ’s Second Coming was imminent. In yesterday’s passage we read evidence of this: “But this I say, brethren, the time is short . . . for the form of this world is passing away” (1 Cor. 7:29; 31). Why was Paul so concerned to write about marriage? Convinced that we would almost immediately be receiving a new heaven and a new earth, Paul did not think it necessary to be concerned about “the things of the world” (1 Cor. 7:33). Although the expectation of the early Christians was not met, Paul’s underlying message is still true: we always need to be prepared to meet Christ; we need to focus on serving the Lord without distraction (1 Cor. 7:35). God will provide for us.
Concerning what Paul wrote about food offered to idols, his main point is that “love” needs to be the governing factor in the decisions we make. Although many early Christians knew that the idols are nothing, that there is only one God and Lord Jesus Christ, and that all foods are “clean” for us, there were still some of them who could not understand these things. Their consciences disturbed them if they knew food they ate had been offered to an idol. “Their conscience, being weak, is defiled,” St. Paul writes (1 Cor. 8:7). As Christians, it is important not simply to follow our consciences but rather to seek to inform our consciences. If we hold false beliefs or do not embrace the entire truth, then our consciences can lead us astray and into sin.
With an eye to the promised Second Coming of Christ, let us never stop working to learn and inform our consciences so that we may not be defiled. Let us conform ourselves to the Truth of Christ.