Fr Antonio Pineda
here are 1.34 billion Catholics in the whole world – that’s about 17.7 per cent of the global population. That’s a massive number and it would be easy for us to think that as individuals, we are insignificant to the Church, that the Church could very well survive without us. When we read St. Paul’s words in the Second Reading this Sunday about being one body with many parts, you might feel that you’re a foot rather than a hand, as St. Paul would say (1 Corinthians 12:15). It feels that so many people are so much more vital to the functioning of the body of Christ than yourself. There’s the mother of six kids, on the parish council, who has a son in seminary. Or the successful businessman who generously gave thousands of pounds to fix the church’s heating. Or the catechist who prepares 80 kids for First Holy Communion and never misses daily Mass. Are you really as important as these members?
The answer is yes! “God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended” (1 Corinthians 12:18). This means unequivocally that each member is essential to the proper functioning of the whole body. That includes you. He intended you to be an important part of his body. He intended you to be where you are, as you are.
Jesus called you and made you part of his body through baptism. He knows why he called you—and it’s not so that you would be exactly like someone else. He loves you in a way that he loves no one else. That means you are just as dear to his heart as the people who might look like 100 times more valuable than you.
It is important, then, to see the body of Christ—and yourself—the way God does. Each person has a role to play, and if everyone were the same, the Church wouldn’t be all that God wants it to be. God made you exactly as you are to help make his body, the Church, whole.