Many Yet One

Second reading
1 Corinthians 12:12-30

You together are Christ's body, but each a different part of it

Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit, we were all baptized, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.

  Nor is the body to be identified with any one of its many parts. If the foot were to say, ‘I am not a hand and so I do not belong to the body’, would that mean that it stopped being part of the body? If the ear were to say, ‘I am not an eye, and so I do not belong to the body’, would that mean that it was not a part of the body? If your whole body was just one eye, how would you hear anything? If it was just one ear, how would you smell anything?

  Instead of that, God put all the separate parts into the body on purpose. If all the parts were the same, how could it be a body? As it is, the parts are many but the body is one. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you’, nor can the head say to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’

  What is more, it is precisely the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest which are the indispensable ones; and it is the least honorable parts of the body that we clothe with the greatest care. So our more improper parts get decorated in a way that our more proper parts do not need. God has arranged the body so that more dignity is given to the parts which are without it, and that there may not be disagreements inside the body, but that each part may be equally concerned for all the others. If one part is hurt, all parts are hurt with it. If one part is given special honor, all parts enjoy it. 

  Now you together are Christ’s body, but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers, good leaders, those with many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have the gift of miracles, or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages, and all interpret them?

The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.  The Church is made up of many members and it was designed by Christ from the beginning to use all of the talents that she has in her members to further the Kingdom of God. 

If you are putting together a puzzle, the picture becomes more clear as you join pieces together.  Each piece is made to fit in only one place because its shape is made to accommodate certain other pieces to the exclusion of all others.  Oh, we can apply force and made a piece fit where it does not belong but certainly, that means that another piece of the puzzle will be affected and will be in the wrong place and need some force applied to it to make it fit as well.  It is each piece fitting in where it belongs that allows us to complete our work and see the beautiful picture which was being carried piecemeal a pixel at a time by the membership of the whole. 

Of course, my puzzle simile falls apart because even though we are separate, we all know what the story is and we all have a grasp on the "big picture" which is that Jesus was born, He lived and ministered to us, He showed us how to live, and He died on the Cross for our sins. Then, as proof that He was the Messiah and not just another pious preacher, he vanquished death by rising from the dead.

  We as humans tend to put things in order of importance.  For example, the CEO of a company is seen as much more important when compared to the janitor.  Yet, both of these people perform separate but very vital functions.  The CEO directs the path that the organization is to take.  Imagine how hard it would be for the CEO to direct the company if the building he was in had only one working light bulb in some slop sink in the basement or if the toilets were overflowing, these would make the job of being CEO much harder and certainly much less pleasant.  So, in some respects, the CEO and the janitor are equally responsible for why the company is in the position it is in on any given day.

So, every part has its job to do and not matter if it appears to be a lowly job such as wrapping plastic silverware into napkins for a parish event or convoking a synod of bishops, each is required and each has a place in the economy of salvation.  We should all respect one another no matter how great or how modest our job appears.  We are all doing the same job and that is making it possible for the coming of the Kingdom which will be here sooner because we attended to our duties to make it so!