Deacon Tom Writes,
“One in Christ”
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
The devastation caused by natural disasters, the sufferings of those traumatized by war and famine, the fear on the faces of children with bellies swollen from hunger and disease we have become all too familiar with overwhelms our senses. It is painful to watch this suffering unfold, for, the truth is, our minds simply cannot grasp the horrific misery many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are enduring at this very moment. Worse, we may have even become indifferent to it. Consider what the Syrian people have experienced these many years. I know they have been forgotten or rather displaced by the suffering of other peoples whose situation is equally dire or, imaginable as it may seem, even worse...the Uyghurs, the Afghans, the Rohingya or the Yemenis. It is virtually impossible to comprehend the millions of people who are on the verge of starvation in these and many other places around the world! Then again imagine what it is like to lose everything you own in an instant when a tornado rips through your home or the nearby wildfire blazes over the hilltop and consumes everything in sight, everything you have worked your whole life for and perhaps even a loved one. Yes, these are horrific images that overwhelm us and perhaps we can’t even bear to look at them. Yet, St. Paul tells us the reason we Christians feel the pain that others are experiencing is because we believe that we are all part of the one Body of Christ. “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it” St. Paul reminds us in today’s reading. Are we feeling the pain that our brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing today?St. Paul recognized that we are intimately united with one another when we enter into a relationship with Christ. His experience while on his way to Damascus to persecute those early followers of Christ helped form this understanding. Recall the events of the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 9, when Saul was blinded by a bright light and fell to the ground. He heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me”? When Saul asked who was speaking to him, he heard the response, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Saul must have felt totally bewildered. He was on a mission to put an end to that fledgling group of Jesus’ followers, NOT to encounter this Jesus who was already dead. But after this profound encounter with Jesus, the newly transformed bounty hunter would become one of Christ’s greatest witnesses. And one of his many contributions to our faith is what he understood to be this Mystical Body of Christ that we read about today.
Because we Christians believe that we share this mystical union with one another through Christ, all of us suffer any and each time someone else suffers physically, mentally, or emotionally, whether the cause is natural or the result of our own violent, aggressive and misguided activities. Yes, we are all aware of the suffering and misery that thrives in our world today. And how are we as Christians to respond to the afflictions of refugees, or the victims of war…AIDS…poverty…injustice, etc. that ravage our brothers and sisters in Christ, all of whom, we believe, are made in the image and likeness of God? Certainly, financial support is essential for food, medical supplies, and disease control. These items are most essential. But also, we cannot overlook our spiritual contributions – prayer, fasting and time spent reflecting on how the suffering of people around the world is bound up with Our Lord’s redemptive suffering that frees us from death and restores us to everlasting life. In the end we need both the material and the spiritual contributions to help alleviate the suffering of so many people. Doing our small part will help us better understand ourselves as the mystical body and provide much needed assistance to those in need. And, therein lies tremendous hope for our broken and troubled world.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
Image: http://religion-cults.com/metanoia/cristo-cuerp-m.jpg
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