Our Unity In Christ

Message from Fr. Jose Koluthara, C.M.I.

Risen Jesus, help us stay united to you and give visibility to your presence when we gather as Church Amen.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On any given Sunday, we gather from places near and far to be nourished with the Living Word and the Living Bread. We come from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Some of us actively participate in the singing and the prayers; others prefer simply to watch and listen. Some of us will listen to the homily and take something of it home to feed upon during the week. Others will doze off or do a mental critique of the preacher’s ideas, delivery, etc. Some of us are nursing hurt, plotting revenge or stoking grudges; others are praying for the power to forgive and be forgiven. Some of us go forth from the praying assembly renewed and resolved to do better, to be better. Others will depart much in the same frame of mind and heart as when we arrived.

Despite the differences among us all of us, regardless of race, gender, age, attitude, social class, individual preferences and experiences -- all of us are one in Jesus Christ and, for that reason we are also one with each other. It is because of our oneness in Jesus Christ that we, though many and varied, have gathered together today. It is precisely because of Jesus Christ and our individual relationships with him that we can grow into a community, related in love and mutual support and service to one another.

The reality of our unity in Christ is the focus of our scripture texts for today. As Luke points out in today’s first reading from Acts (9:26-31), the shared union of believers in Christ enabled the early church gradually to overcome their fear and animosity so as to accept Saul the persecutor who had become Saul the proclaimer of the good news. Today’s second reading (1Jn 3:18-24) reminds us that those who are one in Christ and those in whom Christ remains are to love one another in truth, i.e., in deed as well as word. As a heart touching image of our oneness in Christ, John the evangelist offers us in today’s gospel (Jn 15:1-8) the graphic image of the vine and the branches.