The Gospel reading today brings me to reflect on the universal calling and the Mystical Body of Christ- one body with many individual parts as He intended (1 Cor. 12). The Church is what Christ instituted on the Cross. He gave Himself to the entirety of humanity. The gift of His life is offered and available to everyone. He does not pick and choose who is a part of His Church or who obtains a portion of His love, and He continues to purify His Church just as He purified the Temple. How sweet that message is for mankind. I feel that “God is Love and God loves us” is fairly universally known; however, with so many different Christian beliefs nowadays, the fragrance and essence of His love and the unity of the Mystical Body of Christ is stained.
Creator
And stretching out his hand toward the buyers and sellers in the Temple, he said, “It is written: My house shall be a house of prayer.”
I love reflecting on God as our Creator. How crazy is it to ponder and know that he is the author of the world and humanity? He neatly and wonderfully formed our loved ones, friends, and deceased relatives. I love to go further to reflect on how He formed our leaders and the people that annoy us the most. Each have the divine gift of God, whether they have acknowledged the Creator or not, and have dignity and worth. I was once shared the message, “love yourself as Christ loves you.” The phrase has aided me in times of self-doubt, but over the years has transformed to also be “love others just as much as Christ loves you.” This perspective helps me “stretch” out my hands and heart to others. Christ’s love is certainly tender and gentle but is corrective and stirs up interior and exterior change or healing. I want to imitate that to others.
Be Part of the Mission
“For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
Who can we love tenderly and boldly as Christ? Maybe that is slowing down at the grocery store to talk with a stranger, texting an old friend or the crazy family relative, or maybe it’s sharing the reason for your joy. I’m mostly guessing that whoever is reading this post is Catholic, and you have already chosen to pursue a life with Christ. Yet, I leave you with the challenge for today, do you want to be apart of the mission to strengthen the Universal Church, the Mystical Body of Christ? Why not take a risk to share the Catholic faith to aid our Christian brothers and sisters and those who do not believe. As Catholics shouldn’t we want the ultimate good for one another in our family of humanity and a more universal, radical pursuit of the will of God the Heavenly Father and Author of Creation?
St. Cecilia, pray for us.
