Write a letter
Is 49:3, 5-6; Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10; 1 Cor 1:1-3; Jn 1:29-34
Is the art of letter writing becoming extinct? When was the last time you actually wrote a personal letter, with pen and paper (not a card or invitation)? I’m sure many still do, but they may be a vanishing breed.
It can be easy to forget that so many of our books of the Bible are actually letters. Even though at Mass we begin with “a reading from the letter of Paul to …,” I know that I tend to receive what follows afterward more as a theology text than an actual letter (even if the letters deal with questions about God).
Therefore, our second reading today is noteworthy insofar as it highlights the letter genre so clearly.
We encounter the opening salutation of Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. This was a special community for Paul. He founded the church and he clearly shared regular communication with them, often addressing problems or issues that were unique to their situation. This is what one would expect from a letter, as opposed to a more general treatise intended for mass distribution.
As we slowly work our way through Paul’s letter to the Corinthians over the next five Sundays, I invite you to imagine what a letter addressed by you to your own parish might look like. Today we are accustomed to receiving letters from our parish or pastor: monthly newsletters, solicitations for donations, bulletin articles, email blasts and so forth. But unless lodging a complaint, it would be rare for a parishioner to write to his or her parish (not just addressing the pastor or staff) commenting on concerns within the community, offering a general note of encouragement or highlighting a particularly relevant point of the Catholic faith.
By contemplating how a “letter from Judy to the Parish of Our Lady of the Woods” (a fictitious example) might read, we force ourselves to reflect on how we actually perceive our church community and what we would want to share with them — which are all things that we actually should be sharing with each other as parishioners, but so rarely do.
Paul begins by telling the Corinthians that he has been called to be “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” The word “apostle” means one who has been sent on a mission by someone with the authority to send them. Thus, Paul identifies as having been sent by Jesus Christ, and that this mission was desired by God (here, “God” refers to the Father). There can be no finer pedigree for Paul’s authority than that.
But Paul’s authority is also ours, by virtue of our baptism. We have been anointed priest, prophet and king, and made members of the living Body of Christ. Furthermore, at the end of every Mass, we have been “sent forth” (i.e., declared an apostle) to carry Jesus’ message and presence with us.
While we normally think of evangelization as bringing Christ out into the world, what would it mean to actually bring Christianity more authentically into the heart of our own parish community, instead of assuming that it’s already thriving there? I fear that more than a few attempts at building “evangelizing parishes” fall flat because the parishes themselves are in need of receiving apostolic visitors. How are you being called to be such an apostle? Whom would you contact first?
Paul notes that he is joined by Sosthenes, a Christian companion. Who would your parish ally (or allies) be? Later in the letter, we will see Paul calling out divisive behavior in the church at Corinth over allegiances to different charismatic figures. Are there divisions within your own parish? What would your message be concerning that?
Paul was not afraid to be very particular: naming names and citing specific events. If done with a humble and generous spirit, our parishes could likely benefit from such Pauline vigor.
As we move into these weeks of Ordinary Time before Lent, I encourage you to spend some time in prayer and conversation envisioning what your letter to your local church community would say. You might be surprised how such an exercise can awaken the apostolic zeal that your baptism was meant to instill.