Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

I grew up in a small town with a close-knit Catholic parish and school. That parish community was the lens through which I saw the whole world, and it was only after leaving my hometown that I discovered that not everyone has a strong parish community in which they know everyone and come together not only on Sundays but during the week, as well. Since all of my classmates’ families regularly participated in school and parish activities, oftentimes in acts of service, I assumed that working together with your neighbors and sharing faith and recreation with them was the norm. I treasure the memories of that simple way of life and pray that all can know the blessings of such a community.

St. Paul understood these blessings as well as the pitfalls of a close-knit community. Jealousy and gossip in particular can arise when everyone knows one another and their business. He not only tries to discourage such behavior but also seeks to cultivate greater appreciation for each other by emphasizing how the community needs people with different gifts to function well. The community (the Church) is a body—the Body of Christ—and the different parts of the body serve each other by serving the whole. If we all had the same gift, we would be very limited in what we could accomplish. So, when a neighbor has a talent that we wish that we had, we can rejoice because we do share in that gift to the extent that we are united with that neighbor, which will also help us recognize that we, too, contribute to the community and participate together in the life of our Lord Jesus.

Reflection by Fr. Victor Schinstock, OSB