Second Reading 
Often Plays Second Fiddle at Mass

At almost every wedding you can hear the same scripture: "Love is patient, love is kind. . . . Faith, hope, and love abide, and the greatest of these is love." It comes from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.

The same letter gave us many other quotable quotes:

» "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ."
» "You are the body of Christ."
» "If Christ has not been raised then your faith has been in vain."

All those passages appear at the end of the same letter, and you'll be hearing them all over the next few weeks at church.

There's one hitch. You'll hear them during the second reading, when many worshipers start daydreaming about football, searching for the restroom, and checking their watches. Few homilies treat the second reading, and we've learned we can generally ignore it as a less important part of the Mass.

Typically, the second reading is the one that doesn't quite fit. The gospels of ordinary time contain themes you can always trace in the first reading. But the second reading lopes along on its own, generally oblivious to the other scriptures. During ordinary time the second reading traces the same new testament book for a few weeks. So to make sense of it, we have to remember what last week's second reading was about and wait for its development next week. The formula looks good on paper, but it generally fails in worship.

It's a shame, and the second readings over the next few weeks show why. They're all drawn from one of the most important letters of the new testament, the one we call Paul's first to the church at Corinth. This letter carries so much weight that the lectionary offers it to us every year between Christmas and lent. Since this is the last year of the cycle, we'll be hearing the last third of the letter. It treats some very worthwhile matters in community life and belief.

Paul had some serious issues to deal with. Imagine Corinth. Can you picture Greece? It dips down into the Mediterranean in two parts, the lower suspended by a thin bridge of land. That's where Corinth sits. It joins northern Greece to the south, and separates the Adriatic from the Aegean Sea west to east. It's the ultimate crossroads. At the time of Paul manufacturers and merchants made rich by trade and taxes mixed with peasants, athletes, and sailors. Corinth had all the sexual opportunities you'd expect to find at a seaport. It was a city made for commerce, not for religion. One of the legendary kings of Corinth was Sisyphus, forever pushing a boulder uphill, which rolled back down whenever it neared the top. If you were a preacher, and if you could make it in Corinth, you could make it anywhere.

Paul spent eighteen months there. He found people open-minded to Christianity in a location with unparalleld opportunity for communication. He wrote a series of letters to the community. He answered their questions. He scolded their behavior, as reported to him by malcontents.

The parts of Paul's letter that we'll hear over the next few weeks deal with very practical matters:

» Gifts (12:4-11). The people had many gifts and talents, but they did not work together. The varied social structure of Corinth made it difficult for Christians to feel united. Paul reminded them that the gifts come from one source, the Spirit, and they will flourish when they are used in union with that Spirit.

» The Body of Christ (12:12-30). Paul asked the people to contemplate the human body as an example of how the church should function: one spirit governs all the interdependent parts.

» Love (12:31-13:13). The single gift which binds the rest together is love. You won't need faith and hope after you die, but you will need love. Love is the eternal gift, and it will guide the community.

» Creed (15:1-11). Paul reminded the people of the basic elements of faith: Christ died, was buried, rose again, and was seen by witnesses, many of whom were still around.

» Resurrection (15:12, 16-20). Some had doubted the resurrection, and Paul told them without the resurrection there is no faith.

» Eternal life (15:45-49). Paul contrasts Adam and Christ. As we were born in Adam we have human life, but as we live in Christ we have eternal life.

The first letter to the Corinthians deals with issues that still matter to Christians today: how to identify our gifts, how to put them to use, how to find unity with others, what is the nature of love, what we believe, and what difference it makes.

It's no wonder that Paul's words remain popular. They still speak to us at weddings, funerals, and even in ordinary time.

[Published in the Catholic Key for the 2nd Sunday Ordinary Time]