If you have read my homilies before, then you are aware that I warn that our faith is not a moral system. You can be an Atheist and follow Catholic morality, even going to church. There are, indeed, churches for atheists. Catholicism is really a whole new way of looking at our being and therefore it is a different way of understanding who we are. This is no more evident than in today’s second reading.

We return to Corinth and here St. Paul is talking about morality. This comes from a chapter where he calls the people to understand that their way of being differently than the world, and, therefore, to act differently than the world.

Paul cites several examples where he calls his audience to understand themselves differently than the people of the world. The main point is that we through our baptism in Christ are called to a relationship with Christ that changes our very being. Take it this way. You remember from your catechism that both baptism and confirmation mark your soul so that you enjoy a dignity different from when you were neither baptised or confirmed. Paul is calling us to understand this and live it. This is why understanding our faith strictly in terms of morality does not cut it. Our behavior is based on more than rules, but on our dignity as humans in relationship with Christ. Christianity is not a system of morality but a way of being.

Every one of our human actions needs to be radically different because we are made radically different in Christ. Paul, who in Romans calls us to renewal of our mind, here calls us to understand our relationship with Christ correctly.

Let’s take a deeper look. This is a passage that is often misunderstood by those who either do not understand or embrace our faith, or who reject it. Here Paul is reminding readers that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. This passage is so often misunderstood and it is misunderstood by those who embrace a rules based faith. When one asks why  they can’t engage in immoral behavior, often times this was the answer, because the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and must be treated that way. That statement is correct, but not completely correct. It is kind of like asking the question why one should not write graffiti on a Church, that is because a Church is a special building and must be treated as such. However, the reality is that writing graffiti, especially on a church makes a statement to the  very core of the taggers being. This is what Paul is trying to communicate.

Therefore, the issue is not morality, but much deeper.

Paul uses a term to describe our relationship with Christ as being of one spirit, but also describes the relationship of husband and wife who are of one flesh, he says, to illustrate it and his point about how to live Catholic morality.

Think of it this way, when a couple marry, they enter into a relationship where throughout their years, they will meld into a couple that is fruit of their union at every level of their being, physically, emotionally, socially, etc. They complete each other and as the years go on, this process deepens.

If we take that same relationship and bring it to its deepest level in our spiritual being, then we see Paul’s description of what it means to be Catholic. It is not a situation where we do good or bad things and our eternity is based on it, it is rather that we become united with Christ and our whole being changes in Him. Now our morality is based on that relationship and growing deeper in Christ, just as a husband and wife grow deeper in their own relationship.

Now, Paul is telling us to understand ourselves in this context. This will affect our behavior completely. This means that everything we do is based on that relationship.

How can I describe it simply. I actually can do so with an attitude taught by Fulton Sheen. He used to warn: “Win an argument; lose a soul.” So often we can seek to prove ourselves correct and prove someone else wrong, but he warned that we can do that in a way that turns others off of our greatest love which is Christ. So, our response is to weigh our options and decide which actions glorify Christ and which do not. What if the other person does not get our reasoning on why we are right. Eventually, they will, but until that time, let it go. It is not worthy turning someone off from Christ to prove you are right, to win in a court battle, to demand your rights, to prove your are owed money and to prove you have the right to have sex with anyone who will have sex with you. We have a relationship that leads us to give up some part of our bragging rights for the greater good in Christ. This is Paul’s point.

Let me give you another example that may illustrate it well. In an earlier parish, there were some parents who ran the youth group. They got the parish to rent what is called a fifteen passenger van for the weekend. When they went to return it, they argued with the dealer that rented it and forced  him to take less money than was originally bargained for. The next time they went to rent the van, they learned that the dealer no longer rented 15 passenger vans.

So it is with us. See how our actions communicate our relationship with Christ. See how our relationship with Christ influences every action that we make. This is what Paul is calling us to understand. That attitude far exceeds a moral system it is what our faith truly is a way of being; being in Christ.

God bless you,

Fr. Robert J Carr

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