Sanctified in Christ Jesus (2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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The church in Corinth was one of the most significant of the early Christian churches which St. Paul founded during his second missionary journeys (Acts 18). Corinth was the commercial and cultural hub of southern Greece. Its location made it a strategic location for the spread of the Gospel to the rest of the Mediterranean. Its cosmopolitanism also made it a great pastoral challenge, as Paul had to contend with many worldly mindsets and sinful behaviours that plagued this church.

Despite this, Paul still referred to the Corinthians as “saints.” Perhaps they did not embody this reality as well as they should have, but he recognized that they were sanctified in Christ Jesus. Note that a “saint,” in the broadest sense of the term, is someone who has been sanctified, or set apart, which is why Paul uses it to describe all Christians. He does the same thing in many of his other epistles (See: Called to be Saints). By using this term to describe believers, he reminds us of what we have been called to be by God’s grace

The theme of sanctification runs throughout 1 Corinthians, as Paul seeks to aid the Corinthians in their growth in holiness. He reminds them that they used to conform to this sinful world, but should no longer do so, because they have been set apart:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

We have been sanctified through the blood of Christ, whom John the Baptist refers to in our Gospel as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). This sanctification happens at our Baptism. Like the Corinthians, we too can turn from God and back to sinful ways, and so we must continually strive for greater sanctity. This Sunday, let us recall how God has accomplished salvation and forgiveness of sins in us through this great sacrament, while being mindful of the fact that we must increase in holiness.

J. Luis Dizon