If one could trace a unifying and contemporary thread to most issues in 1 Corinthians, it would have to be getting wrong one’s thinking on the body, whether that of the community, one’s physical embodiment or the resurrection body of Christ.
Every serious writer on the New Testament has to take into account the possibility that seven New Testament letters believed to be from Paul, (Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, and Hebrews) do not have direct Pauline authorship.
As Catholics we have a duty to ensure that those we elect to care for this redistribution of income are people for whom the service of the common good is also their primary goal.
‘We’re concerned about what’s happening in New Zealand’s very poorest households, and among particular groups.’
Despite a decade’s social investment, the government’s statistics indicate that living standards have not improved for the poorest New Zealanders.
We were encouraged to think big with respect to forgiveness and gratitude not just that which we offer but also that we accept for ourselves. For, as he pointed out, joy is an important indicator that we are fully alive.
‘The important work to be done at parish level is to guarantee pastoral care. Therefore, it is vital that lay leaders are trained to take over religious services when priests are not there.’
At times I felt I was part of the church of the present and other times I felt I had been, like Dr Who, transported back in time to situations that I encountered as a little girl in the church of the late 1950s and 1960s.
One thing I am sure of is that parishes must give lead roles to younger Catholics’not through tokenism, but simply because they are already members of Christ’s body and he speaks to us through them.
So far I learned two lessons. On board the disabled ferry we were kept reasonably well informed at each stage and it was accepted, while on the later ferry they didn’t give the passengers any information and the people became pretty angry. That’s the moral to this story.