If you veer off course, you check the map or get directions. If you want to get to your destination, you need to remember where your destination is. It also helps to remember why you are going there, in case you get tired along the way.

Saint Paul wrote letters to the Corinthians in Greece because they were getting off course. He reminded them about the basics of the Christian life and answered a few of their specific questions. Paul had spent a year and a half with this community on his missionary journeys. He stayed at the home of Aquila and Priscilla, who had emigrated there from Rome during the persecution of Claudius. Paul shared faith, ethnicity, and occupation with Aquila: They both were tentmakers (Acts 18:1-11).

Now Paul had moved on, but some problems had surfaced with this community after he left. Now he sat down with his friend Sosthenes and wrote a letter to the Corinthians.

He starts with a brief glimpse at the roadmap. He writes the letter “to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There was bickering within the church at Corinth. People complained about everything from liturgy to hair to food. Paul says, “Remember: you are holy. And all who believe in Christ are holy.” Whenever any church community veers off course, it’s good to look back at the map.

Written by Paul Turner. Liturgy Training Publications
Copyright 2003, Archdiocese of Chicago