The Mystical Body of Christ
by Joan Patten
A reading from I Cor. 12:12-2
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single organ, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
Let us pray for the gift of piety: “The Holy Spirit leads the soul to a sense of familiarity with God. The soul tastes the beginnings of a life of union with God; she savors it! She starts to savor her friendship with God and her life of grace; she starts to experience the reality of the Mystical Body and to acknowledge its members as her own sisters and brothers because they belong to the same family. They form one reality.” (Giaquinta, Gifts of the Holy Spirit)
The Mystical Body in Time and Space- Adapted from Program of Spiritual Life for the Apostolic Oblates, Bishop Giaquinta (Chapter 11, Pro Sanctity Formation Book 2008-2009)
As the physical body is located in time and space, so is the Mystical Body, or at least a part of it. Since we live in the world of today, we have responsibilities toward the people who are around us today. We must stress and develop ‘mystical relations’ with our brothers and sisters of today. Let us try to live, as intensely as possible, the life of the Mystical Body as the Lord offers it to us today – in the present environment. We are to be responsible for our brothers and sisters of today, and perhaps partially responsible for our brothers and sisters of tomorrow, but not for our brothers and sisters of yesterday. It is not only an unproductive and essentially fruitless occupation to look back to the past, but also a spiritually harmful one.
Solidarity within the Mystical Body requires that all its members be aware that the body must grow and multiply according to God’s command (Genesis 1:28), The Mystical Body of Jesus must expand on this earth through the multiplication of the soldiers of this militant Church in order that its Catholicism and universality may be actualized. The militant church will then find its fulfillment and completion in the Church of eternity. Called by Baptism to live the life of this Body, we must also feel the obligation to actively contribute to the multiplication of the children of God.
Reflection:
The first time I started paying attention to what the Church taught about the Mystical Body of Christ was when I joined the Legion of Mary. The Legion taught its members that they were to see Christ in all those they served. At the same time, we were to be Christ to others. Each member had a role and was part of the body with Christ as the head. Our Lady is the neck that joins the head and the body, but she is also the heart that that gives life by first receiving and then distributing life to the rest of the body. Recalling how we are all united in Christ’s body should inspire us to pray for one another’s sanctity.
The first time I started paying attention to what the Church taught about the Mystical Body of Christ was when I joined the Legion of Mary. The Legion taught its members that they were to see Christ in all those they served. At the same time, we were to be Christ to others. Each member had a role and was part of the body with Christ as the head. Our Lady is the neck that joins the head and the body, but she is also the heart that that gives life by first receiving and then distributing life to the rest of the body. Recalling how we are all united in Christ’s body should inspire us to pray for one another’s sanctity.
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