The Holy Hieromartyr Pancratius, Bishop of Tauromenia.
1 Corinthians 7:24-35; Matthew 15:12-21.
Read 1 Corinthians 7:24-35
“The major theme in the First book of the Corinthians is communion with God versus communion with darkness. We are created for communion with God and with each other. Communion is concretely experienced in the life of the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit. But communion is not automatic; we pursue it. And while we may cooperate with evil, we are created to cooperate with God and with each other. … One of the problems in the Corinthian church was a moral failure from being spiritually weak.” (The Orthodox Study Bible p.1550)
Today’s reading gives images of types of relationships of men and of women and relationships between a man and a woman. The context of these descriptions flows from St Paul’s belief that “the time is short.” He was certain that Jesus’ second coming was very soon. St. Paul encountered the risen Jesus directly and had many mystical experiences so like him, we all do very well to accept the fact that time very truthfully is short.
Recall the creation story in the Book of Genesis, specifically the place where God gives all the “wild animals of the field and all the birds of heaven” for Man to name (Gen. 2:18-20). Recall also the Hebrew understanding that they would never say the “name” of God because of their understanding that to say one’s name was to have an authority over the one who the name belongs and no one can have authority over God. As God allowed man to name all creatures, He also reveals that because of man’s uniqueness from the animals he does have an authority in his relationship with them. The word man is now replaced with the word Adam. Man now has a name.
In this naming process, “there was not found a helper comparable to him” (Gen. 2:20) and the goal of this entire undertaking was so that Adam would “not be alone.” We all know how the story continues with the creation of woman. Initially woman is only identified as Adam’s wife. It is only after the deception from the serpent and the fall, that Adam calls his wife’s name Eve which means mother of all living.
Recall also in the first creation account, “God made man; in the image of God He made him, male and female He made them.” … (Gen. 1:27) … “Then God blessed them…”
The points that St Paul gives from these images of being man and being woman is that both are meant to be in complete communion with God, as was in the beginning. There is a uniqueness of the male and of the female that is specific and is revealed through the way Adam was created and through how Eve was created. Within mankind’s complete communion with God contains mankind’s ability to be in communion with one another regardless of being celibate or married. This is the way it was in the beginning, is now and will always be even into eternity. This is also the path of man and woman to receive God’s blessing. Go with God.