Thomas Aquinas, on 1Cor 11:22

“What, have you not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God; and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? Do I praise you? In this I praise you not.”

“Then when he says, Do you not have houses, he looks into the cause of this sin. First, he excludes a reason, by which they could be excused. For it is not lawful to apply to profane uses the house of God, which is set aside for sacred uses. Hence the Lord, when driving the buyers and sellers from the temple, said; "My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves" (Matt 21:13). And Augustine says in his Rule: "In the oratory let no one do anything except for what it was built and from which it gets its name." Yet in case of necessity, namely, when one can find no other house, he may lawfully use the church for eating, or for other such lawful uses. But the Apostle rejects this excuse, saying: Do you not have houses, namely, your own, to eat and drink in? Then you would have an excuse, if you celebrated banquets in the church, which you ought to do in your own homes. Hence Lk (5:29) says that Levi made Christ a great feast in his house. Secondly, when he says, or do you despise, he asserts the cause which makes them inexcusable, the first of which is contempt for the church of God. And he states this, saying: Do you despise the church of God? Is that why you presume to eat your supper in the church? Here "church" can be taken for either the congregation of believers of the sacred house, which is not to be despised, as it says in Ps 93 (v. 5): "Holiness befits your house," and in Jer (7:11): "Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?" But they despise both, when in the presence of the congregation of believers, they hold feasts in a holy place. Secondly, he mentions their contempt of neighbor when he says: and humiliate those who have nothing? For the poor were humiliated, inasmuch as they were hungry in the presence of the entire group, while others were eating and drinking lavishly. But it says in Pr (17:7): "He who mocks the poor insults his Maker" and Sir (4:2): "Do not grieve the one who is hungry." Then when he says, What shall I say to you, he concludes his reprimand, saying: What shall I say to you in the light of the above? Shall I praise you? And he answers: Although I praise you for other things, in this matter I cannot praise you. It should be noted that above when he spoke about women's apparel, he praised them at least ironically, saying: "I praise you, because you remember me in everything." But here he does not want to praise them even ironically, because in more serious matters sinners must in no way be handled gently. Hence it says in Ps 10 (v. 3); "For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul and the wicked man is blessed. And the sinner renounces the Lord"; and in Is (3:12): "My people, those who called you happy, misled you."”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.