1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31 / Luke 7:11-17
One peculiarity about being human is that we want others to be like us.
We want others to think like us, to do things our way, and to agree with our opinions.
We think that when everyone thinks alike and acts alike, then there will be unity.
If that is the case, we may have assumed that unity is in the uniformity.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul used the imagery of the human body and its many different parts to illustrate the unity of the Body of Christ.
The body is one, yet it is not identified with any one of its many parts.
St. Paul says that we together are Christ’s Body, but each of us is a different part of it.
But no matter whether we are prominent or obscure part, an active or supporting part, each of us need to be united by something essential.
We need to be united in love and with love.
Then, like Jesus in the gospel passage, we will be able to have compassion and understanding for others.
Then we know that we are not to competing against each other, but to complete each other, and be united in the love of Christ.