Pleasing Everyone

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, February 11th, 2024:
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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1 Corinthians
10.31 – 11.1
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Brothers and sisters: Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Saint Paul and I are working on our relationship. He has promised to pray for me, and I have promised to read his letters with a generous heart and not to allow my annoyance at some interpretations of his views on women to splash over onto him. It was with some relief, therefore, that I read the very reasonable, gender-silent passage from his first letter to the Corinthians, which is the Second Reading for this coming Sunday. First he says, “[D]o everything for the glory of God.” Yes, excellent—I agree, Saint Paul. Next he says, “Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the Church of God,” and I think, “Well said, Saint Paul—no need to be causing offence if one can avoid it.” Then he says, “I try to please everyone in everything I do,” and, I’m like, “Ah, hold the phone—who is this writing, and what have you done with Saint Paul?”


I have never had the impression that Saint Paul tried to “please everyone.” For example, earlier in his Letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul spoke to a gathering of disciples, basically saying: folks, let’s face it—you’re not the sharpest knives in the drawer. In fact, you’re a pretty weak and low-born bunch. That’s why God called you—and me! (refer to 1 Corinthians 1:26-31) No one could reasonably suggest that he spoke these words to “please everyone.” Furthermore, the circumstances of Saint Paul’s life prove that he did not “please everyone”: by his own admission, he’d been stoned, flogged, beaten with rods, and often left without food, shelter and clothing “many times" (2 Corinthians 11:24-27). So, what does he mean when he encourages the Corinthians to imitate him by pleasing everyone?


Key to understanding what Saint Paul means is his comment: “I seek not my own advantage but the advantage of many, so that they may be saved.” Saint Paul promises to put the needs of others ahead of his own if doing so will bring them closer to God. If he encounters a person who is weak, he will do whatever he must so that the person might grow closer to God. In 1 Corinthians 8, he urges the Christians not to eat meat offered to idols, even if they don’t believe in idols anymore, because it might “become a stumbling-block” to the weaker Christians who have lingering beliefs in idols and might be disturbed by it (1 Corinthians 8:9). So, Saint Paul says, “[I]f food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall" (1 Cor. 8:13). He’d rather give up eating meat altogether than risk the salvation of a weaker Christian.


Lord, when I am tempted by pride to criticize others (however gently) for choices made, remind me that my words may hurt them and that I may cause them to turn away not only from me but also from the Christ I hope to imitate. Lord, let my words and actions be not a stumbling block but a bridge that leads others closer to you. Help me to remember that shaming cannot bring about healthy change. It is love of others that will win hearts for the Kingdom.


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Donna Davis

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