DEACON TOM ANTHONY

Sunday, January 27, 2013


WE ARE ONE BODY

Conflict is something that is human and not divine. God does not want conflict, division, strife. Our God is a loving God who “gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish…” That act alone is a message to all of us how we should approach our relationships and different situations that might arise in our daily lives. Conflicts should be resolved and not created. Disagreements should be approached with the intent to find a solution  and not to continue them. Peace, love, and unity should be the goal of all peoples.
Paul in his Letter to the Corinthians emphasizes the unity of all persons. We are all lifted up from our various positions in life and become equal through Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus that the divisions created by society are destroyed. Everyone has a particular purpose to fulfill in this great community called Christianity. But it doesn’t just end there. The opportunity of salvation and love extends beyond the boundaries of those who believe and those who do not believe to the entire world. Paul even goes further indicating that those yet to accept Christ are of critical importance to our community because we are an Evangelical Faith. It is through those who have yet to accept the Invitation of Christ that Jesus is glorified.

When we accept Christ we are reminded that all of us bring to the community an abundance of gifts. We are moved by the Holy Spirit to use these gifts for our own benefit and for all of those around us. It is a shared experience and not one that we can separate ourselves from. We must be prepared to sacrifice and offer everything to our brothers and sisters for the greater glory of God. This we are commissioned to do and it is through the Holy Spirit and our own faith journey that we then realize that it is also something that we both want to do and have to do if we are going to be truly happy. When we are moved this way it is revealed to us that this is also a duty and obligation. It is a wonderful duty and obligation. Society teaches us to be selfish while Christ teaches us to surrender everything for everyone else.

Jesus came to liberate everyone because everyone is his children. In today’s world this is easy to forget. It is very natural to think that our problems are the ones that are the most important things in our lives. We tend to concentrate on our own well being first and foremost than offer what time we have left to help others. Even though we can convince ourselves that this is a good way to live, it really isn’t. We must continuously put ourselves last in order to truly glorify Christ. When we do this we become Christ-like in our actions and deeds. Imagine if we all put ourselves last and concentrated on helping all of those around us. We all become unified in the Holy Spirit and are all lifted up. This was the concept of the early Christian Communities because they were truly developed around the teachings of Christ. This is something that we are in constant danger of losing. We must continuously be on watch not to lose this because we would be losing something very central to our faith.

Do not condemn. Love instead. Do not berate. Console instead. Do not judge. Correct instead.
We are a family. A family in Christ.
Deacon Tom

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