First reading 1 Corinthians 10:14-22
We are a single body because we all share the one bread
My dear brothers, you must keep clear of idolatry. I say to you as sensible people: judge for yourselves what I am saying. The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf. Look at the other Israel, the race, where those who eat the sacrifices are in communion with the altar.
Does this mean that the food sacrificed to idols has a real value, or that the idol itself is real? Not at all. It simply means that the sacrifices that they offer they sacrifice to demons who are not God. I have no desire to see you in communion with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take your share at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons. Do we want to make the Lord angry; are we stronger than he is?
Responsorial Psalm 115(116):12-13,17-18
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
Gospel Luke 6:43-49
Whoever hears me builds his house on a rock
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.
‘Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord” and not do what I say?
‘Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them – I will show you what he is like. He is like the man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!’
Lord, help me do what I say
Paul reminds the Corinthians that avoiding idol worship is fundamental to true faith in Christ. Paul warns the Christians that if one eats at the sacrificial banquet offered by the gentiles, one is united in some way to the god in whose honour the sacrifice is offered and to those who honour this god.
Once converted, Christians must guard against any return to paganism.
All actions must proceed from faith in the one Lord. The cup of blessing makes all Christians sharers in the blood of Christ. The bread they share binds them to Christ and one another. As the body of Christ, they are nourished by this sharing.
The unity celebrated during the Lord’s supper can be damaged when Christians take part in idol worship, which can cause scandal and division within the community. It is not possible to eat at the Lord’s Supper and follow the practices of idol worship.
In his teachings, Jesus makes this point clearly when he states that those who call on the name of Jesus as Lord must genuinely demonstrate the quality of their relationship with the Lord.
They can do this if they hear his words and put them into practice. Jesus uses the image of a fruit-tree to emphasise the genuineness of one’s action; that is, “no good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit” (Lk 6:43).
Christians, therefore, must demonstrate through their deeds what they profess and believe.
Lord, help me do what I say.
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Daily Shalom” by Herald Malaysia
