Fifth Sunday Integral 2026
In today’s reading from the first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul tells the members of the congregation that he approached them not with lofty words or wisdom, but with feelings of—here’s the Greek—astheneia, phobos, tromos. That’s weakness, fear, trembling. This is St. Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, confessing to wanting to flee the synagogue where he was teaching about Jesus. Despite some early success with the synagogue leader and his wife and children being baptized, he was reviled by his listeners and left downcast. But the Lord Jesus appeared in a vision and said “Do not be afraid but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man shall attack you to harm you. I have many people in this city.” Paul stayed for eighteen months to build up the Corinthians.
Why did Paul have this problem? Why did he need the vision of Jesus, as he had on the Damascus road? He had just come from Athens, the world center of philosophy. In Athens Paul was preaching, like Jesus, for the need for repentance and faith in Christ, and the coming day of judgement and the resurrection of the dead, doctrines which you and I affirm every Sunday during the Eucharist. But the Athenians could not wrap their philosophy around those truths, so Paul left Athens having baptized only a handful. That failure made him wary of Greeks when he arrived at Corinth.
Paul’s experience should be a lesson for all of us. We will not always evangelize with great results. We must remember what St. Therese of Calcutta said, “God does not require you to succeed, only that you try.” Faithfulness is more important than success. We have control over our loyalty to Christ. Christ has the power to bring results in His own good time.
Our reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah appeals to our desire to participate with Christ in bringing God’s goodness and light to our world. If you’ve ever been out in the desert just before dawn on a clear day, your experience of that dawn must have been memorable. Away from the lights of the city and freeways, the last part of nighttime is really dark, like being in a cave without even a candle. Then you see light growing in intensity off in the east and gradually revealing everything around you.
If you have had a personal experience of the Truth and Beauty and Goodness of Jesus, perhaps at a retreat or a confession, you know His grace can have that effect. Enlightenment! The dawn breaks! Isaiah tells us, and Jesus confirms that when we become agents of His justice, we are prepared for that kind of brilliance in our lives. Those of us who at some time have personally shared bread with a hungry and destitute person or family, give a jacket to the poor homeless or teach a Bible lesson to the confused can come away feeling really, really good. It helps us show ourselves as a light to the world, just as Jesus did.
Take a moment to reread our psalm from this celebration, number 112. The verses selected might remind you of someone. “Gracious, merciful and just.” “Conducts His affairs with justice.” “In everlasting remembrance.” “An evil report He shall not fear; His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.” “Lavishly He gives to the poor.” “His horn shall be exalted in glory.”
The lavish giving to the poor suggests five thousand men and their families sitting down and being given bread and fish that satisfies, leaving them with full bellies. And then twelve baskets were needed for the leftovers. The gracious mercy and justice give us the picture of an innocent man being unjustly nailed to a cross and then promising to a repentant thief next to Him that the thief would be with Him that very day in Paradise. This man saw what was going to happen to Him the evening before. He did fear and He did ask the Father if possible to save Him, but He trusted in the Lord and prayed “not my will, but Thine be done.” And after He died on the cross in sight of His Mother, and was buried, three days in He rose from death and was exalted in glory, where He is right now at the right hand of the Father.
Yes, the psalm speaks to us of Jesus. But it also tells us of what we can do so that we will share with Jesus. We will share in His humiliation and suffering in some way. Many of us already have done that and will look forward to more in a world that has turned away from the Father’s loving plan. We will respond to that pain by performing the works of mercy, sheltering the homeless, visiting the suffering, bearing persecution gratefully, admonishing sinners. You know the list, and you suspect rightly that no matter how many boxes you check, there is always more good you can do, more evil you can endure. That is the call to respond to the Holy Spirit filling our hearts and prompting us to imitate Christ.
Easy to do? Not without trusting in the Lord’s grace. Rewarding? Only good feelings in this life and the promise of glory in the kingdom of God that daily comes a little closer. Blessed be His Holy Name for this plan and this promise.
