The Body And Its’ Parts
“And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with [it]; or if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with [it]. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” (1 Corinthians 12:26-27)
As the ‘body of Christ’ the Church is strength to each of its members, and as sons and daughters of the Lord, we all belong to this One ‘Body.’ People often ask why God does not bless them, or why they do not feel His grace in their lives . The answer is always the same, because there is no communication. God is perfect and remains constant, and thus the difference must be in us.
When we distance ourselves from God we become severed members of this one body which is the Church… which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The nerves are no longer, connected and so cannot communicate; these same nerves become withered and weak and even though God continues to try to communicate with us, we are no longer receptive.
As members, we are also representatives of this one body. If a hand, as happens in cartoons, has an autonomous reaction of just slapping others without the brain necessarily directing it to do so, there may not be any fault with the brain, but a communication problem which does not allow that hand to understand the messages coming from the brain, thus causing it to act independently. The problem is that the consequences of the actions of this hand which is severed from the rest of the body are far reaching. By acting inappropriately and slapping those around it, the hand not only harms itself but also harms the whole body and the reputation of the whole body, of which it is part . Therefore, as members of the one body of Christ, if we act inappropriately, we not only harm ourselves, but cause harm to the body of Christ and the reputation of all Christians.
Through the sacraments of Chrismation and the Holy Eucharist, we are unified as the body of Christ and accept that we are members of this one body, and in so doing, we must accept the responsibility of being representatives of the Lord and must act appropriately. As Christians, we should not merely wear crosses as fashion accessories but must be truly committed to our Faith and subsequent way of life, because there comes the responsibility of acting as a true Christian and representing our Lord accordingly. We must be loyal to our heavenly Father.
What unifies us is the presence of God as an invisible structure in our lives, both individually and collectively . When we look at a chandelier, what we see is bright lights, gleaming crystal, but what holds all of that together is not externally visible. What we see is the shiny exterior and not the strong, solid bond uniting the elements. Let us therefore pray that our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the source of all strength, continues to bind us together as His One Church, so that our light may go forth into all the world for the glory of His name.
HG Bishop Angaelos