Opening Prayer
Gospel
1 Corinthians 12: 12-30
Just as your body has many different parts, so it is with the Christian family. Each part of your body has a special job to do, and without that part your body could not work properly. Without your legs you could not stand up and walk.
Many different parts make up one body, and every part is just as important as another. Each one of us belongs to the one family of God and has special gifts which God has given to us. We must use these gifts to make sure that the one body of Christ works properly and is full of life.
Discussion
Read the following list of body parts out loud: head, toes, elbow, mouth, knee, nose, back, ear. Which one of these parts is most important?
- Each part of the body does its own particular job, which only you can do. You can neither see with your ears or smell with your knees! The whole body relies on the eyes for sight and on the ears to hear, and on the legs to carry it around. No part of your body can manage without the others; they are all equally important.
St. Paul compared us to parts of the one body of Christ. What do you think he meant?
- At baptism each of us became a member of the family of God and was invited to share in the life of Jesus who rose from the dead. Although there are many Christians in the world today, together we make up a church , or one body, that believes in and follows the teachings of Jesus.
As many parts belonging to the one body of Christ, what jobs can we do in the church and in our ordinary lives?
- We can put whatever talents we have to good use in lots of different ways. Many people help us to celebrate at church on Sunday: the musicians and choir, the flower arrangers, the readers, the people who welcome us at the door. They do all these jobs on behalf of everyone. In the same way, in our ordinary lives, our acts of kindness and love work on behalf of everyone else who belongs to the family of God.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You call each one of us
to belong to one people,
the family of God.
Help us, together with our brothers and sisters,
share your love with the world.
AMEN