NOTES for Co1 11:17-34

The apostle Paul warns us against a very serious danger: confusing one thing with another. He says that when the Corinthians gather, “it is not the Lord's supper that you eat.” How, then, should it be eaten? What is wrong in the Corinthian community, and what does it have to do with us? It is perfectly obvious that today, however much one might wish it, one cannot come to church to eat: the Eucharist in its present form cannot serve as breakfast or lunch. So is everything all right with us? Apparently not. The problem is that a person does not come to church to meet God. What takes the place of that meeting is no longer so important. Today it is usually human companionship. We feel our loneliness acutely, while in church we have an opportunity to spend time with people and can expect understanding, because people in church are indeed usually kinder than those on the street or in the subway. So we come to socialize, to talk, to spend time... The Church becomes a social gathering for us. And that is not eating the Lord's supper.