Saturday, January 22, 2011

We are Christ -ians!

This morning I was reviewing the readings for tomorrow's Mass, the second reading: 1 Corinthians 1,10-13,17 is a timely appeal by Paul in our day, especially this week of Christian Unity.

Paul is addressing the news that in Corinth, they are quarreling, and there is division in the Church.  Some are saying that they are Paul's, others are saying they belong to Apollo, others are saying they belong to Cephas, while some are saying they belong to Christ, the division is great with so much to do!

Paul is saying, Come on, guys, stay focused and remember who you are!  You are here because of Christ, He was baptized for us, so He baptizes us!  He was crucified for us!  I am here to proclaim the Gospel in Christ's name as you are!

In today's world, we have our own set of divisions, race, color, creed, sex, and much more.  Sometimes we cannot see past these divisions and we fail to love as God loves us.  When a house is divided, the family crumbles and peace ceases to be. Paul saw this happening in Corinth as it is happening in our own world today.

How can we stay focused on Christ and be Christians?  We are called to be Christ in the world, we are called to be saints, and we are called to be love, God's love to each other.  Mother Teresa talked about looking at each person through love.  She taught that:
"Every human being comes from the hand of God, and we all know something of God's love for us.  Whatever our religion, we know that if we really want to love, we must first learn to forgive before anything else."  ~Mother Teresa
Nothing has changed from Paul's time to today, we are called to be Christians.  We are God's people, God is love.  We are God's love!

2 comments:

RAnn said...

That's always a good thing to remember

Barbara Schoeneberger said...

Thanks for the Mother Teresa quote and this post. Just this morning at Mass I was thinking with amusement: "How will I feel spending an eternity with people I didn't like on earth? God loves each of us. So I better forgive and pray for everyone who may have done me wrong because, most likely, I'll be seeing them forever!"