Third Sunday of Ordinary Time
The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the Lord's house all the days of my life, to see the Lord's beauty, and to inquire in his temple.
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord.
Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you says, "I follow Paul,""I follow Apollos,""I follow Cephas,"and, "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News — not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn't be made void.
What strikes me most about Paul's words to the Corinthians is how timeless his concern feels. Here was a community fractured by celebrity culture - some following Paul, others Apollos, still others claiming Cephas as their spiritual guru. Sound familiar? We live in an age of influencers and thought leaders, where even our faith can become about whose teaching we follow rather than whom we follow.
Paul cuts through this with startling clarity: "Is Christ divided?" The question lands like a gentle but firm hand on our shoulder. When we align ourselves primarily with particular priests, authors, or spiritual movements - even good ones - we risk missing the forest for the trees.
The psalmist gives us the antidote: "One thing I have asked of the Lord, that I will seek after." One thing. Not ten things, not even three things. Just one - to dwell in God's house, to see God's beauty. There's something beautifully simplifying about this singular focus.
What I find challenging here is how easily we can slip into spiritual tribalism without realizing it. We might prefer traditional liturgy or contemporary worship, find ourselves drawn to mystical writers or social justice advocates. These preferences aren't wrong, but they become problematic when they create divisions or when our identity becomes more about our spiritual "camp" than about Christ himself.
The wisdom Paul offers isn't about eliminating diversity in the Church - we need different gifts, different approaches, different voices. It's about remembering that all these streams flow toward the same source. When we encounter someone whose faith expression differs from ours, we can ask: are they pointing toward Christ?
What "camps" or divisions do you notice in your own spiritual life? How might focusing on that "one thing" the psalmist describes change your perspective today?