GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 13TH SEPTEMBER 2016
TUESDAY OF THE 24TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
(MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, BISHOP, DOCTOR)
1ST READING: 1Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31
PSALM: Psalm 100:1-5
GOSPEL: Luke 7:11-17
THEME: UNITY IN DIVERSITY
No one person can put up a skyscraper and no one termite can build a termite hill. This piece of truth is an attestation that there is strength in unity.
The Church in Corinth was a community riddled with unhealthy divisions. The division was so pronounced that its impact was felt even in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (cf. 1Cor. 11:17-33). It appears that one of the reasons for the division was a misunderstanding of the core essence of the charisms of the Holy Spirit. Apparently, those who were not having “spectacular” charisms were made to feel irrelevant in the community.
Paul, in our First Reading, chose to give an exhortation on the need for unity in the community. Using the analogy of the human body, he writes, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ…Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1Co 12:12, 27).
The problem always starts when the eyes think that the ears must see rather than hear and when the hands are disturbed to see the legs walking and not clapping. When we begin to see differences as a threat and not a complement, we tend to destroy one another. There have been, and unfortunately there are still, instances where “Christian” communities have been turned into battle fields with different kinds of missiles being thrown about. Weapons of destruction that easily lend themselves out in these “war zones” are gossip, jealousy, backbiting and the pull him (her) down syndrome. Many persons and gifts have been wrecked in the process.
Paul asks, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? (1Co 12:29-30). Obviously, the answer to each of these questions is a resounding ‘No’. We have different functions to play in the one Body of Christ and yet in Christ we are one.
Rather than competing, let us choose to cooperate with each other for the building of the Kingdom of God here on earth.
Prayer: Eternal Father I thank you for whatever gift I have received from you and the gifts that I see at work in others. As we serve you with these gifts, may thy Kingdom come and thy will be done on earth. For the sake of Christ, I pray. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).