Transcript
What’s going on in our second reading today in the Church of Corinth? ‘I am for Paul’ shouted one group. ‘I am for Apollos,’ claimed another, Apollos was a very gifted preacher from Alexandria in Egypt. A third faction had the slogan, ‘I am for Cephas’ or the Apostle, Peter. And a fourth group, not wishing to join in any of this carry-on maintained, ‘I am for Christ.’ Different factions within the Church at Corinth had apparently developed, aligning themselves with one of at least three different teachers or those perhaps who had baptised them. And part of what’s implied here is that followers of these factions had aligned themselves against the other leaders and those who followed them. At first glance, we may wonder how people could be so committed to just one Christian leader that they would fight with other believers over it. After all, didn’t all of them teach the same message: Christ’s gospel? Experience, however, shows how easy it is for us human beings to lose perspective and divide over issues of personality, authority, race, football allegiance, you name it. Sadly, there are some groups in the Church who never came to terms with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and formed factions who declared, “I am for Benedict” which in effect meant for them that “I am against Francis.” So let’s pray that our new Pope can bring these factions together. Are there any factions in your parish?