Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop & Doctor of the Church
“Now you are Christ’s Body, and individually parts of it.”
As we work and live side-by-side with one another, this first reading from First Corinthians today has a helpful word for us. I don’t have to be everything, do everything, or know everything in the community. I just have to be faithful to my part.
My part refers to the way I am true to the graces God gives me to live out in my setting. If I am forever watching how the Spirit is working in others, how can I value His working in me? I want, with a certain contentment, to carry out joyfully my unique call from God.
There is a great stabilization in community life that comes from this kind of acceptance of oneself. St. Benedict sees it as a result of a growing, practical awareness that we live and move and work under God’s gaze. That gaze is very realistic, yet loving and forgiving. It’s a gaze that continually, our whole life long, draws us and stretches us toward eternity. And in that elastic frame, we are able to become more relaxed when, for example, milk gets spilled on the floor! In us, God’s pull becomes a yearning that slowly propels us forward. St. John Paul II put it nicely: “An ever-new capacity to await God’s future.”
If we practice this attitude, whenever it comes time for us to lead, teach, preach, or guide others, then, like St. John Chrysostom, we will adjust to the harness and pull our part with vigor and courage!
Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections