WE ARE ONE!

Last Tuesday, we heard the beautiful passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians about the Church. St. Paul is clear when he talks about the Church. He is not referring to the building, but rather the people. He uses the image of the human body to describe the Church: “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ.”  What is more interesting is when Paul speaks about the image of the body, he also invites us to reflect on our ministry. He reminds us that we all have a role to fulfill, we are “individual parts of the Church.”

A few weeks ago, Fr. Robert spoke to us about ministry. He stressed the importance of being responsible members of the “home” which is our parish. He challenged us to look at how we are able to share the gifts we have, to continue to build the body of Christ. He pointed out that the liturgy we celebrate every Sunday is a good starting point on how to become involved in ministry. This is why it is called liturgy which literally means “the work of the people.”  To paraphrase the words of St. Paul, some are called priests, some lectors, some mass coordinators, some musicians, some ushers, some altar servers, some extra-ordinary ministers of the Eucharist. Without the people working, how can this be called liturgy?

Beyond the liturgy, there are those who are called to be catechists, money counters, pastoral care ministers, teachers and many more. All these roles are essential parts of the Church. God has given us gifts meant to be shared in manifesting God’s kingdom on earth.

In May of this year, you helped us create a pastoral plan with three priorities: Worship, Formation, and Family. To ensure the success of the plan, I need your help. As members of this community, I ask everyone to step up to the plate. There are some who faithfully serve in different ministries, but the more help we can get, the merrier, easier, and meaningful our actions will be.

This weekend, let us simply pray about our ministry. Reflect on Jesus’ words: “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.”  And if compelled to move, I invite you to stop by our ambassador’s table this Sunday and explore the many opportunities to serve.

The theme of our pastoral plan is “Radical Hospitality,” that is to live as Jesus lived, to be Jesus to others. The success of the plan and the growth of God’s kingdom depends on our response.