January 22, 2023 The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

Homilist: Fr. Chris Bollegar Readings: https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_... “I thank God that I baptized none of you…” — The Apostle Paul to the Corinthians These are certainly words one would not expect to hear from a minister of the gospel! Thanking God that he hadn’t baptized any of them? What is going on here? When you actually read the context in which these words are found, you discover that Paul says this because he’s frustrated that the Corinthians have divided themselves into “factions”—some of Paul, some of Apollos, some of Cephas. He is saying that he is glad that he hasn’t baptized any of them—except a small handful—so that they can’t say that he was just trying to gather followers to himself. Paul does not approve of the divisions in Corinth. However, divisions are not specific to the Corinthians or to Christianity… or to any religion for that matter. Divisions are everywhere—we experience them in all of life: work, family, friends, political convictions, etc. How should we respond to such divisions? How should we understand them? While I certainly won’t attempt anything like addressing all these today, I do want to look at how Paul counsels the Corinthians with respect to their divisions.