Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on SoundOn
Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
1 Corinthians 12:12–14, 27–31a
There are many images for the Church.
The Church is the People of God,
journeying through this world toward the heavenly Jerusalem.
The Church is also a light for the nations,
because Christ Himself is the Light.
But today Saint Paul gives us another image.
The Church is a body.
Not a crowd.
Not a club.
Not a collection of private believers.
A body.
A body has many parts.
Eyes.
Hands.
Feet.
Heart.
Lungs.
Liver.
Each part is different.
Each part has its own work.
And each part is needed.
The heart cannot say:
I do not need the lungs.
The eyes cannot say:
I do not need the hands.
If one part suffers, the whole body suffers.
If one part fails, the whole body is weakened.
This is how Saint Paul wants us to understand the Church.
In baptism, we were all joined to Christ.
Saint Paul says:
In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.
The source of our unity is not our taste,
not our opinion,
not our nationality,
not our social status.
The source of our unity is Christ and the Holy Spirit given to us.
But unity does not mean that everyone must be the same.
The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people.
Some teach.
Some serve.
Some lead.
Some heal.
Some encourage.
Some pray quietly.
Some preach.
Some organize.
Some visit the sick.
Some care for the poor.
No one has every gift.
No one is useless.
No one can say:
My gift is everything.
No one can say:
Your gift is nothing.
The Corinthians forgot this.
They wanted importance.
They wanted status.
They compared gifts.
They divided the community.
But this is not the way of the Body of Christ.
Saint Augustine later spoke about the “whole Christ”:
Christ the Head,
and the Church His Body.
This is not only an idea.
On the road to Damascus, the risen Lord said to Saul:
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
Jesus did not say:
Why are you persecuting my followers?
He said:
Why are you persecuting me?
Christ identifies Himself with His Church.
That is how close He is to us.
So today we can ask:
Do I build up the Body of Christ?
Or do I weaken it?
Do I use my gifts for the good of all?
Or do I use them to be noticed?
The Church grows when each member lives for the whole body.
Through prayer.
Through service.
Through evangelization.
Through a life that makes Christ visible.
We are many members.
But in Christ,
we are one Body.
Biblical Reflections on the Gospel of Matthew
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Content License
© 2025 Krakus.
Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
(Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial).