The Two Altars We Choose

1Cor 10,14-22, Psalm: 115, Lk 2:33-35

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, the Word of God today presents us with a stark and powerful choice: to which altar will we bring our lives? We are called to radical communion, a total belonging that demands our entire heart and refuses to be divided.

Saint Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, speaks with urgent pastoral concern. He begs the fledgling Christians to “flee from idolatry.” For the pagans in Corinth, this meant literal sacrifices to stone statues. For us today, idolatry is far more subtle, yet just as real. It is the worship of status, wealth, pleasure, or our own ego. Paul’s argument is profoundly theological: every act of worship, whether in a temple or in our daily choices, creates communion. “Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” When we receive the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, we enter into an intimate, real communion with the Lord and with one another. We cannot then, Paul insists, also partake of the “table of demons.” We cannot have two ultimate loyalties. Our participation in the altar of Christ defines and demands our entire being.

This theme of a defining choice is echoed powerfully in today’s Gospel. The aged prophet Simeon, holding the infant Jesus in his arms, turns to His mother and speaks a word that is both blessing and prophecy: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted—and you yourself a sword will pierce—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

The presence of Christ is not a comfortable one. He is a sign of contradiction. He does not leave us room for lukewarm neutrality. He forces a crisis, a judgment (krisis in Greek, meaning a separation or decision). He reveals the thoughts of our hearts, exposing where our true allegiance lies. Will we stand with Him, even if it leads to a share in His cross, a sword that pierces our own plans and comforts? Or will we turn away, choosing the easier, more comfortable altars the world offers?

This is the spiritual combat of the Christian life. As the great Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, “It is easy to find truth; it is hard to face it, and harder still to follow it.” The revelation of our heart’s true thoughts can be uncomfortable, but it is a moment of immense grace. It is the opportunity to consciously reaffirm our choice for Christ.

So how do we apply this in our daily lives? We must regularly examine our altars. What do I sacrifice my time, my energy, and my anxiety for? Does the one hour at the altar of God on Sunday direct the other 167 hours of my week? When faced with a moral choice, do I seek communion with the world’s values or with the truth of the Gospel?

Take comfort, for the Lord who reveals the secrets of our hearts does so not to condemn, but to save. He offers us the immense grace of His true altar, the Eucharist, as our food for the journey. Saint John Paul II reminded us that “The Eucharist is not merely an expression of communion in the Church’s life; it is also a project of solidarity for all of humanity.”

Let us then, with courage, ask for the grace to have our hearts revealed. Let us flee from every modern idolatry and choose daily the one altar of Christ. For it is in that total, undivided communion that we find our true rise, our ultimate freedom, and our everlasting peace. Amen.