1 Cor 16, 1-4 The collection for the holy ones

1Corinthians 16

(1 Cor 16, 1-4) The collection for the holy ones

[1] Now in regard to the collection for the holy ones, you also should do as I ordered the churches of Galatia. [2] On the first day of the week each of you should set aside and save whatever one can afford, so that collections will not be going on when I come. [3] And when I arrive, I shall send those whom you have approved with letters of recommendation to take your gracious gift to Jerusalem. [4] If it seems fitting that I should go also, they will go with me.

(CCC 751) The word "Church" (Latin ecclesia, from the Greek ek-ka-lein, to "call out of") means a convocation or an assembly. It designates the assemblies of the people, usually for a religious purpose (Cf. Acts 19:39). Ekklesia is used frequently in the Greek Old Testament for the assembly of the Chosen People before God, above all for their assembly on Mount Sinai where Israel received the Law and was established by God as his holy people (Cf. Ex 19). By calling itself "Church," the first community of Christian believers recognized itself as heir to that assembly. In the Church, God is "calling together" his people from all the ends of the earth. The equivalent Greek term Kyriake, from which the English word Church and the German Kirche are derived, means "what belongs to the Lord." (CCC 752) In Christian usage, the word "church" designates the liturgical assembly (Cf. 1 Cor 11:18; 14:19, 28, 34, 35), but also the local community (Cf. 1 Cor 1:2; 16:1) or the whole universal community of believers (Cf. 1 Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13; Phil 3:6). These three meanings are inseparable. "The Church" is the People that God gathers in the whole world. She exists in local communities and is made real as a liturgical, above all a Eucharistic, assembly. She draws her life from the word and the Body of Christ and so herself becomes Christ's Body. (CCC 1351) From the very beginning Christians have brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need. This custom of the collection, ever appropriate, is inspired by the example of Christ who became poor to make us rich (Cf. 1 Cor 16:1; 2 Cor 8:9): Those who are well off, and who are also willing, give as each chooses. What is gathered is given to him who presides to assist orphans and widows, those whom illness or any other cause has deprived of resources, prisoners, immigrants and, in a word, all who are in need (St. Justin, Apol. 1, 67: PG 6, 429).