St Paul talks about the Church, the community of the faithful, as a body where there are many parts. As in the human body these parts are connected and in a way belong to each other. We belong in a community and we belong to each other. This is God’s creation. God calls us into this body.
The Apostle also calls this community “the body of Christ”. What an amazing reality! Together we are the ‘body of Christ’ in the world. We are gifted in many and diverse ways.
It’s part of God’s plan – a body in the world gifted for service in a variety of forms.
Together however, we are one body, being Christ in the world, doing to the Christ things.
Being his loving and serving presence in our neighborhoods, work places and homes.
One of the ever present plagues which can endanger community is individualism. Of course we are individuals making up this body, but where individuals act with disregard for the community, failing to recognise and love one another, the community is weakened.
We also thrive and grow as individuals in the context of community. We do better with one another, than alone. We are called by God into community.