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Commentary on the Gospel for September 12, 2024
Dear friend,
As we’ve been seeing throughout the continuous reading, the Corinthians consult St. Paul about many things. Today they ask him about idols, because before their conversion many of them attended banquets in honor of pagan gods where meat sacrificed to these gods was eaten. Now they are Christians and don’t know if they can attend these banquets. St. Paul will remind them later that there is a banquet par excellence, which is the Eucharist, in which Christ himself offers himself to us with his flesh so that we may have life in Him.
However, although we too today fall into the adoration of certain idols, sometimes communing with their ideologies and mentalities, the Gospel, after yesterday’s Beatitudes, reminds us of the essentials of our faith so that we don’t forget: «Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them…» That’s quite a life program to start the year with!
Among all of Jesus’ phrases that we meditate on today, there is one that touches me deeply: «If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?» How right he is, but how difficult it is. That’s why I think it’s a good idea to pray with the last verse of today’s Psalm 138 so that the Lord may help us put it into practice: «Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.»
Your brother in faith,