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Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
1 Corinthians 7:25–31
From chapter seven of the First Letter to the Corinthians,
Saint Paul begins to answer questions sent to him by the community.
It is a little like an ancient “Ask the Priest.”
The Corinthians ask about marriage, celibacy, faith, morality, and Christian life.
Today, Paul speaks about marriage and celibacy.
His answer is shaped by one deep conviction:
time is short.
For Paul, the Gospel is urgent.
People must hear that Christ died and rose.
People must be brought from darkness to light,
from slavery to freedom,
from death to life.
This is not a small task.
It is a matter of life and death.
That is why Paul prefers a life totally free for the Lord.
Marriage is good.
Paul does not deny that.
But marriage brings real responsibilities.
A husband must care for his wife.
A wife must care for her husband.
A family needs time, attention, work, and love.
These are holy things.
But they can also divide the heart.
Celibacy, when it is received as a gift,
allows a person to belong to the Lord with an undivided heart.
It allows a person to give more time, more energy, and more freedom to the Gospel.
But Paul’s point is not only about marriage or celibacy.
His deeper point is this:
Christian life must be lived with eternity in view.
He says:
The time is running out.
And again:
The world in its present form is passing away.
This is a strong sentence.
The world Paul knew has disappeared.
The world of Saint Benedict has disappeared.
The world of Saint Francis has disappeared.
One day, our world too will disappear.
The things we worry about now,
the things we chase,
the things we fear,
the things we celebrate,
all of them are passing.
Weeping passes.
Joy passes.
Possessions pass.
Business passes.
Even the structures of this world pass.
Only God remains.
Only love remains.
Only the Kingdom remains.
So Paul invites us to live differently.
Not carelessly.
Not irresponsibly.
But freely.
Use the world, but do not belong to it.
Live your vocation, but do not forget eternity.
Love your family deeply, but do not let family stand in the way of God’s calling.
Work, but do not make work your master.
Rejoice, but do not forget that deeper joy is still coming.
Today we can ask:
What is passing away that I treat as if it were eternal?
And what is eternal that I often neglect?
The Gospel is still urgent.
The world is still passing.
Christ is still calling.
Let us live with undivided hearts.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Content License
© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
(Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).