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.
Now you are Christ’s Body, and individually parts of it. Some people God has designated in the Church to be, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then, mighty deeds; then gifts of healing, assistance, administration, and varieties of tongues. Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
The Word of the Lord.
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Imagine waking up one day, discovering you had five thumbs, four legs, and three noses; no fingers, no arms, and no mouth. How miserable your life would be. In fact, you’d soon be dead!
Or, on a communal-level, imagine if the waste collectors didn’t pick up our trash; mail wasn’t delivered; landscapers quit; teachers didn’t teach; priests didn’t preach; police didn’t police; adults didn’t work; and people didn’t pray.
How awful – and, frankly, unlivable – our world would be!
Yet how often do we go through life taking the most basic functions of our body and society for granted?
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It takes all of us to make life work.
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The same is true in the Church.
Every person must contribute to the life and growth of our faith community; otherwise, it’d cease to exist.
This is Saint Paul’s point in our first reading. As he says to the Corinthians:
“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… Whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, we are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”
What part of Christ’s body am I? How do I contribute to the life and the mission of the Church?
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Perhaps the Lord is calling us to be grateful today – not only for the contributions that we make to society and to the Church, but also for everyone else who helps to make our world go ‘round.
Share that gratitude with another today.
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Image credits: (1) Science Universe, YouTube (2) Saint Chrysostom’s Church (3) FreePik
Brothers and sisters: In giving this instruction, I do not praise the fact that your meetings are doing more harm than good. First of all, I hear that when you meet as a Church there are divisions among you, and to a degree I believe it; there have to be factions among you in order that also those who are approved among you may become known. When you meet in one place, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper, for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk. Do you not have houses in which you can eat and drink? Or do you show contempt for the Church of God and make those who have nothing feel ashamed? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this matter I do not praise you.
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my Body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
The Word of the Lord.
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Saint Paul wrote his First Letter to the Corinthians before any of the Gospels were written. Thus, we have in today’s first reading the first words ever recorded as spoken by Jesus.
“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,” Paul says, “that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said”:
“This is my Body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me… This cup is the new covenant in my Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.”
Paul is reminding the Corinthians that, when Mass is celebrated, they are, in fact, receiving the Promised Presence of Jesus Christ himself!
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Such a profound mystery should leave the Corinthians in awe, forever changed. However, this isn’t always the case.
Rather, some are “eating and drinking judgment upon themselves,” Paul says, “because they are not discerning what the body means.”
There are two sins, in particular, that he is addressing.
Some of the wealthier Christians saw themselves as superior to their less fortunate neighbors. They failed to understand that, in Christ, we are all one body, and therefore equals. True Christians do not jealously guard what they have; rather, they freely give it away.
As Saint Francis later says, “It is in giving that we receive.”
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Secondly, some of the Corinthians do not appreciate what the Eucharist actually is, Christ’s gift of his very self. This idea still lingers in some today.
This does not mean that we must be perfect to receive Communion; as Pope Francis says, “the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect.”
Rather, like the centurion in today’s Gospel, we humbly recognize the Presence of Jesus, and say:
“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. But only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”
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Image credits: (1) Christ Pantocrator, Sinai (2) Catholic Answers Shop (3) Jesus Healing the Servant of Centurion, Veronese
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Many of us remember Billy Graham, perhaps the most popular American preacher of the 20th century.
He once shared a story about his wife, Ruth, who drove for several miles through a construction zone. After carefully following the detours and warning signs, she came to the last sign that read:
“End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”
Struck by the message, she went home chuckling, telling Billy that she wanted that line engraved on her tombstone. And when the time came, it was.
“Ruth Bell Graham. June 10, 1920 – June 14, 2007. End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”
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Isn’t life itself like a construction zone?
There’s patience needed, imperfect paths, detours, potholes, a cacophony of noises, and winding roads leading us to places we never thought we’d go.
Part of being human means that we’re “under construction,” a work in progress.
While we might have the big picture in mind – we want to find a share of human happiness and, in the end by the grace of God, get into heaven – the way we reach these goals is often very different from the path we had in mind.
Consider the life of Saint Peter.
He, too, desired happiness and heaven, but he found them after taking many detours and winding roads.
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We are now half-way through Mark’s Gospel, and today Peter’s journey takes a pivotal, unexpected turn as Jesus declares:
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it.”
This is far from the straight, smooth path Peter imagined for his future with Jesus. What about the glory, the honor, the royal banquets, and his role as a trusted advisor in Christ’s kingdom here on earth?
It seems Peter’s dreams are being shattered right in front of him. Imagine the thoughts racing through his mind. He has already left his job, his home, and his family in order to follow Jesus. Are all of these efforts for nothing? Is it all ending abruptly in death?
Stunned, Peter pulls Jesus aside and says, “Surely, this cannot be!”
In trying to prevent God’s divine will from unfolding, Peter becomes like Satan – scandalous; an obstacle; a stumbling block. He’s ignoring the signs.
So, Jesus corrects him, telling him to, “Get behind me.” This gesture of standing behind Jesus implies that, even when Peter doesn’t understand, he must learn how to follow. This was the first lesson Christ taught him.
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Remember how it all began.
The morning they met, Peter was returning to shore after a fruitless night of fishing.
Suddenly, the Lord greeted him, got into his boat, and told Peter to head back out to sea. Once they were far enough out, Jesus commanded Peter to drop his nets. Upon pulling them out of the water, miraculously, they were bursting at the seams!
Then the Lord extended the invitation: “Come, follow me. I will make you a fisher of men.”
Notice the Lord did not reveal his plans to Peter; he did not mention anything about a cross; he did not appeal to Peter’s mind, asking, “What do you think about our future?”
Rather, he appealed to Peter’s feet.
“Follow me.”
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At times we all need the reminder to follow the Lord “feet first,” especially when life becomes more of a detour than a journey on a perfectly paved road.
A malignant diagnosis, a closed door, a winding path we never thought we’d walk, may, in fact, be where the Lord is leading us.
Like Peter we don’t always understand… and we certainly don’t want to accept it. So, we protest, saying, “Surely, this cannot be!”
But the Lord says to us what he said to Peter, “Get behind me.”
Follow me feet first.
As the prophet Isaiah foretells, “I will lead the blind on their journey. By paths unknown I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them and make crooked ways straight.”
It wasn’t until Peter saw the empty tomb that he understood the paradox of our faith; God alone makes crooked paths straight.
Even death he turns into life.
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May Peter pray for us, that we who remain “under construction,” would make every effort to follow the Lord feet first, humbling accepting the detours and winding roads until we can say with him:
