Wednesday of week 22 in Ordinary Time
First Reading
1 Corinthians 3:1–9
Brothers, I myself was unable to speak to you as people of the Spirit: I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it; and indeed, you are still not ready for it since you are still unspiritual. Isn’t that obvious from all the jealousy and wrangling that there is among you, from the way that you go on behaving like ordinary people? What could be more unspiritual than your slogans, ‘I am for Paul’ and ‘I am for Apollos’?
After all, what is Apollos and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which they brought it were assigned to them by the Lord. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer matters: only God, who makes things grow. It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering, and each will duly be paid according to his share in the work. We are fellow workers with God; you are God’s farm, God’s building.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 32(33):12–15,20–21
Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
From the heavens the Lord looks forth,
he sees all the children of men.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
From the place where he dwells he gazes
on all the dwellers on the earth;
he who shapes the hearts of them all;
and considers all their deeds.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
In him do our hearts find joy.
We trust in his holy name.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord sent me to bring Good News to the poor
and freedom to prisoners.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Luke 4:38–44
Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them.
At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.
When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’ And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.
Reflection
Paul’s diagnosis of the Corinthian church is uncomfortable. Its members may possess spiritual gifts and impressive teachers, yet jealousy and wrangling reveal that they remain immature. Spiritual growth is not measured by the names we associate with, the knowledge we display or the intensity of our enthusiasm. It becomes visible in the way we live with one another.
The slogans “I am for Paul” and “I am for Apollos” turn servants of the Gospel into rival centres of identity. The Corinthians are not simply appreciating different gifts; they are using those gifts to divide the Church. Paul cuts through the competition by asking what he and Apollos really are. They are servants entrusted with different tasks by the same Lord.
One plants and another waters, but neither can command the seed to grow. Growth remains God’s work. This does not make human service unimportant. Paul calls himself and Apollos fellow workers with God, which gives their labour both dignity and proper limits. They are responsible for faithful work, not for possessing its fruit.
The Catechism teaches that the Church’s unity comes from the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, even while legitimate diversity exists among her members, gifts and ways of serving (CCC 813–814). Differences become destructive only when they are used to create rivalry, superiority or competing loyalties.
The psalm redirects attention from the workers to the One who shapes every heart. God sees all the children of humanity and considers their deeds. No servant has complete access to what God is doing within another person, and no ministry can measure every hidden movement of grace.
This is why the psalm speaks of waiting. “Our soul is waiting for the Lord.” Waiting resists the urge to force results, claim ownership or make growth conform to our preferred timetable. We plant, water and remain attentive, but we trust that God is working at depths beyond our sight.
The Gospel shows Jesus entering Simon’s home and attending to one person’s suffering. He does not treat the fever as too ordinary for his attention. He leans over Simon’s mother-in-law, rebukes the illness and restores her. Her immediate service flows from recovery; she is able to participate again in the life of the household.
At sunset, people bring friends suffering from many different illnesses. Luke tells us that Jesus lays his hands on each of them. The mission is vast, but his care is never anonymous. Each person is encountered, touched and healed rather than processed as part of a crowd.
The Catechism describes Christ’s signs and healings as manifestations that the kingdom of God is present in him. They free people from earthly suffering while pointing towards the deeper liberation he brings from sin and death (CCC 547–550).
Even the devils recognise that Jesus is the Son of God, but he refuses their testimony. Once again, correct words are not enough. Knowledge spoken in rebellion does not become faith, just as a Christian slogan does not become maturity when it produces jealousy and division.
When daylight comes, Jesus goes to a lonely place. Throughout the Gospels, his mission is sustained by communion with the Father rather than by the demands of the crowd. The Catechism notes that Jesus regularly withdraws into solitude to pray, allowing his human prayer to enter fully into the Father’s loving will (CCC 2602).
The people want to prevent him from leaving. Their desire is understandable: they have witnessed healing and want his presence to remain among them. Yet Jesus cannot allow even grateful people to possess his mission. The Good News must reach other towns because the kingdom is larger than one community’s needs.
Paul refuses to let the Corinthians possess their ministers, and Jesus refuses to let Capernaum possess him. In both readings, God’s work moves beyond the boundaries people try to place around it. Grace is received personally, but it is never private property.
This challenges every Christian community. We can become attached to a particular leader, style or ministry until appreciation turns into dependency and identity becomes factional. We may also become protective of what works for us, forgetting that the Gospel is given for people beyond our familiar circle.
Christian maturity serves without grasping. It honours those who plant and water without confusing them with the God who gives growth. It receives Christ’s healing with gratitude while allowing his mission to continue towards others.
Our task is neither insignificant nor absolute. We are fellow workers with God: responsible for the care, truth and labour entrusted to us, yet free from the need to control the harvest. That humility makes room for unity, perseverance and joy.
One line to carry today:
Faithful service plants and waters without pretending to own the harvest.
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