Thursday, October 20, 2022

The One Body

Meditation for Friday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
(Eph 4:1-6; Lk 12:54-59)

Since God has chosen us in Christ, and destined us to be holy and to possess the riches of His grace in the heavenly places, St. Paul urges us to live in a manner worthy of our vocation. It is our duty to adjust our ways of life to reflect our new identity in Christ Jesus. The virtues St. Paul highlighted that we must manifest as those chosen in Christ include lowliness and meekness, patience, forbearing one another in love, eagerness to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Above all, he emphasized the importance of unity. Looking at the level of disunity among families and in the society, we can understand why St. Paul’s message is important for us today. Unity is the victory over selfishness, which is the foundation of every sin. We do not know where the seed of love is sown until unity germinates; unity and peace are the first fruits we pick up from the tree of love. If we are eager to maintain unity as St. Paul said, then we have strong reason to pursue the other virtues, especially love. However, St. Paul wants us to understand that this unity is part of our mystical experience as those chosen in Christ through baptism. That means our commitment to our calling into the one body of Christ will bring about unity. And unity will in turn bear witness that we have been true to the new life we have in Christ.

 

“For there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.” When our Christian faith can no longer reflect this mystery of unity among us, then it is a sign that something is not right; it is either we have believed wrongly, or we are not true to our faith. As Jesus said in the gospel, we must interpret the ‘signs of the times.’ Look around, you will see the cloud of disunity gathering everywhere. That means we must be more pro-active in sowing seeds of love and the other virtues that nurture unity. Thanks be to God, we have been chosen and blessed to become one body in Christ, the source of every unity. Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Friday October 21, 2022.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

2 comments:

  1. Nice one Padre, may God give us the Grace to leave in unity, believing that United we stand, Divided we fall.

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