Sunday 22 January

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Isaiah 8:23-9:3; Psalm 26:1, 4, 13-14;
1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23

Always seeking unity

In today’s Second Reading we hear Paul appealing for unity amongst the Christian community. Clearly personalities have intruded and so people have been taking sides – Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Christ. Sometimes we also let personalities intrude into our Christian community today – and so we lose sight of the central message and become more concerned with who is proposing something, rather than with what they are proposing. And the appeal Paul makes in his day is just as valid for us today: ‘be united in your belief and practice.’