Today in the second reading at Mass we hear St Paul addressing the faithful…He is trying to maintain unity and he tries to show how all the parts of the body are necessary, all different but all necessary…..He does this to teach his friends…”As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body”…..Each of us has something to do - Something significant to accomplish!…..But each of us are different and that is ok……This is why unity is essential - Because we need each other….But at the same time unity is difficult to maintain, as we all know….Human beings need a common bond and the good news is, we have one…The common aspect of our human nature is we were all created by God…He lives within us by means of our common Baptism…..That is what unites us all…….”If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy”……Easy to say - Right? - But hard to do…This is why we need grace - Sacramental grace….We can not trust ourself to make this happen and in order to establish this kind of unity, we must understand our own weakness - We all have them!…..And only a humble person is willing to do that…God is so much bigger then our sins and ourself for that matter!….As St Paul tells us today, what unites us if far greater then what divides us…..And only in God will unity like I am writing about take place…..In heaven, we will all be of one heart and of one mind….In the meantime - The devil divideds and God unites!
“Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!"
When a group of people are focused and stand shoulder to shoulder, there is no limit to what they can accomplish….The first time I went to Mass with the Missionaries of Charity was in Kolkata, India…It was 5:00am and Kolkata has a large Muslim population…My alarm bell was the Muslim call to prayer at 5:00am…The Mass at the sisters convent was 6:00am…When I arrived, I saw around 200 nuns seated on the floor…The chapel of the Missionaries of Charity has no pews - All the sisters sit on the floor….The silence in the chapel was deafening!…All the sisters are different, from countries all around the world…But all the sisters are united…Focused on one thing - The Blessed Sacrament….The Mass begins with the sound of an old organ and the sisters singing in unison to the opening hymn…At the consecration of the Host…All 200 sisters, who are kneeling on the floor in unison bow their heads to the floor…..To be honest with you, I never seen anything like it in my life!…..What can make these nuns, all of which are different, be so united?…..The answer is Jesus Christ and His Holy Church….This is what St Paul was trying to show his friends, which we heard at Mass today…Think about the first 12 disciples for a moment…All of them were different…I want to point out two of them to you to make a point…Matthew was a Jewish tax collector….And in the eyes of his fellow Jews, by means of his job, Matthew would be viewed as a trader because Matthew worked for the Romans, who basically enslaved the Jewish people…Then you have Saint Simon the Zealot…The term “zealot” here from a historical prospective refers to his ardent desire to free Israel from Roman captivity………We can liken Saint Simon the Zealot to a political activist, who came to know Christ…So back to my story…How can Matthew and Saint Simon the Zealot possibly get along?…..Matthew was seen as a trader to his nation and Saint Simon the Zealot was fighting with all his strengthen to free his nation - Only in and through Christ can these two men stand in the same room and be united…So it is with us today - In our nation…..In our communities….And in our own familles for that matter……And that is what is missing and this is why we are divided!…Without God - Unity is impossible!…We are all different and that is a good thing…We must learn to leverage our difference, focusing them in one direction…Without God that cannot and will not happen…..St Paul again tells us….”Brothers and sisters: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. Now the body is not a single part, but many. You are Christ's body, and individually parts of it”……Together we can do great things but if we remain divided, what we can and will do is sadly limited…..One of the last things Jesus said before he ascended into heaven was this…”I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one”….Division within the Body of Christ is a great scandal….It is something we all must work hard to eliminate….United we stand - Divided we fall!
“Now you are Christ's body, and individually parts of it”
St Paul was a great teacher…He is reminding his friends that all of us are different and that is a good thing…But each of us are part of a larger “body”…And each part has value….Only in and through God can this state of being materialize - True Unity!……In the mean time St Paul reminds us again….”Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful”……..The “glue” that holds us all together is Jesus Christ…..The devil divides - God unites……What divides us is not greater then the one who unites us
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