There’s an old joke about a man who waited anxiously for his doctor’s office staff to call him about the results of tests he took during a recent medical appointment.  When the office staff reported the test results to the man, he told his wife, “I just got the results from my test for short-term memory loss. The Physician’s Assistant sounded worried that the results were “50.”  The good news is that my Body Mass Index test came back positive.” 

Making sense of the world often requires distinguishing between a few fundamental facts. 

When taken out of context, Paul’s comments in today’s second reading sound extremist and slightly inhumane.  I’m sure many people today struggle to make sense of Paul’s counsel to abandon both sorrow and joy, along with property ownership and marriage.  It is necessary, in this case, to understand a couple of fundamental facts about Paul’s statements.   

First, the statements in the first letter to the Corinthians are Paul’s response to a request made by the leaders of the congregation at Corinth.  That leadership group had written to Paul to ask his advice about a faction within the congregation which was advocating licentious behavior.  Paul expressed amazement, not at the immoral behavior of the few, but at the congregation’s inability to deal with the problem. (cf 1 Cor 6:5)  Paul’s incredulity at the inaction of congregation leaders should be familiar to Catholics today who have been scandalized by the inaction of bishops regarding similar matters. 

Second, there was a generally accepted expectation that Jesus would return in glory during the lifetime of the first generation of his disciples.  Paul’s insistence on ignoring everything except the eternal was merely an expression of that expectation of an imminent end to history.   

Paul was, by no means, alone in that expectation.  The same sense of urgency is evident in Mark’s Gospel.  Jesus’ statement about “the time of fulfillment” was a reference to the way that Hebrew apocalyptic viewed human history. (Mk 1:15)  The “present age” was the age of the reign of human kings.  The “age to come” was the age of God’s perfect reign over creation.  The “time of fulfillment” marked the end of “the present age” and the inauguration of the “age to come.” 

Within a few decades of the writing of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, however, attitudes had changed by necessity.  For example, the author of John’s Gospel assumed that Jesus’ return in glory would be delayed, perhaps indefinitely.  Today, in mainstream Christianity, the delay of the Lord’s return is taken for granted and, perhaps, even ignored. 

Obviously, one must acknowledge that Paul’s specific instructions about the proximity of the Last Day do not apply in a literal fashion.   His awareness of the centrality of the belief in the Lord’s promise to return, however, remains pertinent even now. 

Today, the Church must apply Jesus’ teachings to the contemporary context.  This requires understanding both the tenets of Jesus’ teachings and contemporary human experience.    

The hapless man in the joke confused the results of two distinct medical tests.  Sadly, a similar mistake is all too common with regard to the life of faith.  It is too easy to dismiss Paul’s counsel about the contingency of this life on the basis that one is obliged to provide materially for oneself and one’s family.  It is equally easy to dismiss the promise of resurrection on the basis of the delay in the Lord’s return. 

How, then, does one live faithfully in this present age while keeping one’s focus on the age to come?  There are a couple of fundamental facts that must be grasped in order to make sense of this task. 

First, in the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul was making the point that while many things are possible, not all that is possible is beneficial.  The sensible and faithful disciple, therefore, will strive daily to discern between the beneficial and the possible. 

Second, although the present form of the world is passing away, what one does in this world has consequences that last forever.  The life one lives now is the life that will be raised up forever on the day of resurrection.  A common phrase in computer engineering provides an apposite warning about one’s choices: “garbage in equals garbage out.” 

The effort required to make sensible and faithful choices might make one look for good news about life in a contingent world.  The good news that Jesus proclaimed, and that St. Paul preached, is that it is possible to live in a way that leads to the world to come.  This possibility becomes reality when one acts for the benefit of others.