NOTES for Co1 15:12-20
The Apostle Paul warns us against a very serious danger: confusing different things. 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 clear that today, however much one might wish to, it is impossible to come to church for a meal: the Eucharist in its present form cannot serve as breakfast or lunch. Does that mean that everything is all right with us? I am afraid not. The problem is that a person comes to church not to meet God. What takes the place of that meeting is no longer so important. Today it is usually human fellowship. We feel our loneliness acutely, and in church we have the opportunity to spend time with people while expecting understanding, since people in church are indeed usually more kindly disposed than those in the street or on the subway. And so we come to socialize, to talk, to pass the time... The Church becomes a social club for us. And that is not eating the Lord's supper.