Transfer of the Relics of the Holy Unmercenaries Cyrus and John.
Apostles’ Fast. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat.
1 Corinthians 4:5-8. Matthew 13:44-54.
Read 1 Corinthians 4:5-8
There are times in our life, I am sure, that we have all been living our lives in Christ as the Christians in Corinth whom Paul addresses.
At the beginning of this letter, Paul recognizes the gifts of the Holy Spirit that were bestowed upon the Corinthians. Firstly, the gift of faith; secondly, the charismatic gifts; and thirdly, the gifts of preaching and instruction in the faith. Alas, the Corinthians had become so self-centred on the gifts that they had forgotten the one who had given them those gifts, become puffed up, that is, full of pride, and had developed a type of partisanship among themselves.
The “puffed up” in pride is the indication of the wound being surrounded by puffed skin with infection. Paul’s remarks are like a knife to open a wound so that it may be revealed and cleansed and begin to be healed.
St. John Chrysostom writes:
Arguments like these, which appeal to our sense of shame, have two advantages. On the one hand, they cut deeper than open invective would ever do. On the other hand, they cause the person reprimanded to bear that deeper wound with greater patience (Homilies on the Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians 12, 4).