First, a word from our sponsor. In the Gospel we just heard Jesus calling
two sets of brothers to follow Him and be Apostles. First he called Peter and his brother Andrew,
and then the brothers James and John. He
said to them, “Come after me and I will
make you fishers of men.” And indeed,
Jesus did just that. These four men
became the first Apostles and the backbone of our faith today.
We believe
that Jesus still calls men and women to follow Him. Many are called to follow Jesus in the
married life. Some are called to follow
Jesus as single people. And some are
called to follow Jesus in a way of special service to Christ’s people, the
Church. Some are called to be religious
brothers or sisters. Some as
deacons. And still others as priests. And a few finally as bishops.
There is a
great and growing need for this sort of call or “vocation.” We have enough bishops, there is not a
shortage of them. And fortunately, we
are getting more permanent deacons. But
we as the Church have a great and growing need for men and women religious, and
especially for priests.
I urge you to
pray for vocations to the religious life and to the priesthood. If any young people here have had the thought
or desire to explore this way of life, any of the priests here would be happy,
indeed anxious, to talk to you.
All of us are
responsible for encouraging vocations to the service of God’s People, the
church. So pray for vocations!
Now let’s look at our second reading
today from St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. St Paul states: “For it has been reported to me about
you,
my brothers and
sisters, by Chloe's people, that there are rivalries among you.”
What
is going on here? Who is Chloe, and why
are her people informing on the Corinthians?
Well, we don’t know for sure who Chloe was. But from the fact that Paul takes for granted
that everyone seems to know this lady, Scripture scholars pretty much agree
that she was probably a wealthy woman of Corinth and a Christian. And that she hosted the Christian community
of Corinth in her house. Early
Christians did not have churches and so held their worship in people’s
homes. And usually the homes of the
wealthy because they were larger and would accommodate more people. Another example of this phenomenon is St
Lydia who we read about in the Acts of the Apostles, who was a dealer in luxury
cloth.
Any way Chloe’s
people, or literally “those of Chloe”
could be her employees or slaves, or could be her relatives. We don’t know. Scholars speculate that they were employees
of Chloe trading in Ephesus, which is where Paul was located, and while they
were doing business in Ephesus they went to report to Paul on the factions in
the Corinthian community, hence causing this passage in the letter we have
today. Presumably these people reported
to Paul on instruction from Chloe, their boss.
Was Chloe a
snitch? Was she a meddlesome
tattletale? Should she have kept her
nose out of other people’s business, OR did she do the right, indeed
courageous, thing? When Paul’s letter
got back to Corinth, chastising his community for their factions and splits, it
was clear that Chloe was the source of information for Paul. That would not have made her popular. So was she a snitch or was she a hero?
As someone who has
had letters written about me to the Bishop, on several occasions and in various
dioceses, my initial reaction is to think of Chloe as a snitch. I have also had a Bishop write more than one
complaining letter about me to the President of the Paulists, but that is
another story.
People like to
complain. There is so much division and
bitterness out there. People are quick
to complain. Self-appointed guardians of
orthodoxy troll the internet looking for something they don’t like so they can
vent their spleen. The anonymity of the
internet gives them cover to be vile and vicious. It is incredible sometimes the depths to
which some of these carping critics will stoop.
It is a sad commentary on our society.
In another diocese I
was at, the parish had had, in the past, a custom of inviting one of the
neighboring Protestant Ministers to preach on the Sunday during the Octave of
Christian Unity, which we are now in.
The custom died out for various reasons, but on the centennial of the
Octave I wanted to revive the practice for that year, celebrating the hundredth
anniversary. I contacted the Diocese I
was in to inform them of this and then waited for a response. And waited and waited. Finally the Auxilliary Bishop called and told
me that they had gotten this request from me, and they know we had done it in
the past, but they really didn’t know what to do about it now, because, and his
words were “now so many people are
watching.” So many people are now
looking for some deviation from the rules to holler and scream and complain
about. The Auxilliary Bishop was
embarrassed, and we did NOT have a pulpit exchange. For fear of the critics.
Here in our parish several
years ago we had the local Muslim Imam come and talk once to a group of
parishioners who were taking a four week
study introduction to our Moslem neighbors
from a Catholic publishing house. Were
any of you there?
As with any outside
speaker we had to get clearance from the Diocese. The Diocese agreed to his speaking to us, but
insisted it be in a classroom and not in the church. We had planned to do this in Hecker Hall, but
of course I asked why that would make a difference and the reason given was
that so many people are watching on the internet and some would be offended by
the Imam speaking in a place where we worship and by using our pulpit. We still got several nasty emails for
daring to have an Imam come speak to us anyway.
So when someone
complains about church practice I naturally get a little defensive. And hence my question, ¿was
Chloe a snitch?
Well there are times
we do need to speak up. On public
transportation systems and in airports you see the sign, “See something? Say something!” In the crazy world we all live in today we
need to be vigilant. And we need to
report suspicious activity. It is crazy
but that is where we are.
We teach our
children that if they see bullying at school or elsewhere to report it to a responsible adult. We need to know about that. Everyone who volunteers here at the parish
needs to go through Ethics In Ministry training, or EIM for short. It is all about recognizing the signs of
inappropriate behavior, especially regarding sexual abuse, and knowing how and
to whom to report it. We stress the
obligation to report suspicions appropriately.
In several places as pastor I have had concerns and suspicions reported
to me that we then investigated and dealt with.
I was VERY grateful to the people who came forward and alerted me. That is NOT snitching, but responsible
behavior.
There are times we
are obligated to report what we know or even suspect. And this is what Chloe is doing.
Hopefully Chloe
first tried to talk to the parties involved locally. Hopefully she tried first to get the factions
to work together harmoniously. Only when
that failed did she resort to calling in St Paul. Notice that she put her name on this. It was not anonymous. Anonymous letters are worse than
useless. I never read them. They go
right in the trash. Unfortunately the
Diocese has not adopted this enlightened policy. But in any cas, you be mature enough to only
send signed letters.
Finally, Chloe went
to St. Paul. The divisions were pulling
the community apart and the factions were killing the Christian spirit in
Corinth. I hope that Chloe spent time
in fervent prayer, asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not only for the
courage to report to Paul, but to do so in the right way. Not out of vengeance or getting even, or of
one-upmanship, but out of genuine concern for the members of the factions and
the whole Body of Christ.
Friends, we are in
contentious, difficult times. The
temptation to castigate and blame and vilify those who see things differently
than we do is growing. We need to be
peacemakers. And we also need the wisdom
and courage of Chloe, and know how and when to appropriately voice our
concerns. So I say, Chloe was not a
snitch. Chloe was a person concerned
about and dedicated to the growth of the Christian community. May we be the same.
AMEN.
