Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Reflecting on today’s readings, I can’t help but hum the hymn to myself: “We are many parts, we are all one body. And the gifts we have, we are given to share…” Singing together is such a powerful way to establish group identity. When many voices join in one song, our unity as God’s people, the Body of Christ, is made clear. We make it a point in our family to sing hymns together. It’s a simple, easy way to make the ‘Church at home’ a real part of our daily experience. We’re not great singers. But we like to sing, and it becomes a beautiful prayer to God, even when my voice or my children’s voice sounds a little hard on the ears! It doesn’t have to be perfect to have a positive effect on our life of Faith.
What Paul talks about explicitly in the first reading is implicit in the Psalm and the gospel. We are God’s people; we are God’s body. God ‘shows up’ in the world through us, his flock. As we see in the gospel, we as a people live and die together, and in Christ, we will be raised to new life together. The Peace of Christ is with us. We support, encourage, and care for one another. We invite all people to join us, a community of repentant sinners. There is something life-giving and freeing, knowing that we are a part of one another. The one Spirit we share allows us to depend on God and each other.
Let us live together in Christ, die with Christ, and be raised with Christ. May the Holy Spirit allow our lives to become a song sung together, unified and holy and joyful. Amen!
- Chris Nieport