Fighting Resistance

 A Reflection on the Second Reading for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: 
January 26, 2025

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1 Corinthians
12.12-30

Brothers and sisters: Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.

If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?

As it is, there are many members, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this.

But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

And God has appointed in the Church first Apostles, second Prophets, third Teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all Apostles? Are all Prophets? Are all Teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

I realize there is a shorter version of this reading. And the shorter version is perfectly acceptable for a focal point of prayer. But I needed to read this message in its entirety and I also want it to land firmly in the hearts of each of you. If you don’t find time to read another word of my reflection, I would be deeply grateful to God that His Word might live in you through the scripture message Paul offers us in First Corinthians, chapter twelve. And the message that I pray will land in your heart is this: you are indispensable, you deserve honour and care, and you belong to the One Body.

This collection of the parts into the whole that God calls us to, lies at the heart of every level of our being in this life. It is a life-giving perspective on our greater purpose and meaning: connecting our gifts with the gifts of others in God’s kingdom to operate in unity as we serve and glorify our one God. 

It is a perspective that runs counter to the individualism of this world, and the dangerous spirits of competition and comparison that regularly prey on my soul. And though I don’t want to speak for you, maybe you have also experienced their hurtful and divisive effects. It also metaphorically applies to the ways we can be separated from God within our singular bodies as our parts compete for airtime when they feel neglected under the weight of our experiences. Let me explain.

I have been wrestling with the grief of loss. The accompanying emotions on this journey are sadness, anger, and loneliness. The protective mechanisms in my body have established patterns to help me cope with overwhelming emotion, which is a beautiful gift of God’s design. The difficulty for me is when it would be good for me to feel my emotions and allow them to float to the surface so they can reveal what God wants for me in the process of grief, but my body resists this process because of well-established patterns of protection. This often plays out as an exhausting and all-encompassing wrestling match between my mind and my emotions. My mind wants to supersede my emotions because there is a feeling of safety in rationality. But if my mind continues to build a dam in the river of emotion, eventually the water will find a way around it, and it will seep into areas of my life that it doesn’t belong in. 

As I take in Paul’s message to the Corinthians, I am reminded that the cooperation and unification of parts, whether within my own body, or between the bodies of our family of faith, is His ultimate purpose. His love is fully expressed in unity. When I look upon my grief as an unwelcome intruder on His plan for my life, I am missing the opportunity to unify my suffering with His. When I look upon my sister’s gifts as an unwelcome intruder on the expression of my own, I am missing the opportunity to unify my gifts with hers to magnify the expression of both. 

In this world wrought with resistance, opposition, one-upping, and isolation, I pray that the Spirit of unity would reign, mending divisions, healing hearts, and ultimately aligning with God’s beautiful design. Amen.




Lori MacDonald

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