Diversity in Unity Divine Gem Grinder 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time A
Isaiah 8:23-9:3; Psalm 27; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23
In the second reading, Paul urges the Church in Corinth to not be divided: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that … there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.”
Commenting on this passage, Benedict XVI observed that “The similarity between the situation of the Corinthians and ours cannot be missed.” [1] Today, there are many divisions within the Church; there are many divisions among Christians which are contrary to God’s will, who, as the best of fathers, wants his children, in their diversity, to be united through his son Jesus Christ, in the love of the Holy Spirit.
Our faith calls us to harmonize our diversity so that instead of fighting one another since we are different, we become united by what is essential, while appreciating non-essential differences. “Faith”, writes Benedict XVI, “is not the selection of a program that is to my liking or the joining of a club of friends in which I feel understood, but is a conversion that transforms me and my taste along with it, or at least makes my taste and my wishes take second place.” [2]
The founder of my community, Fr. Menard, compared a diverse community, where many different people are united by the common Christian faith, to putting “small stones in a sack” and then shaking. As the bag is shaken, the rocks clash, knocking off their sharp edges and corners. The more the bag is shaken, like a gem grinder, the more the stones become round, smooth, and polished. “That”, concludes Fr. Menard, “is the way it is with us – as long as we remain ‘in the bag’ – the only way to profit by the fiction generated is to belong totally and unreservedly to the group.”[3]
May we therefore, with the help of the Holy Spirit, thank God for the presence of community members who, at times, bump into us, causing us little moments of pain. I am not talking about serious pain; this is a different matter. Addressing this distinction, Fr. Menard teaches: “Be careful never to exaggerate the seriousness of the hurts you receive in community living. Do not make pinpricks into dagger-wounds. If you are a sensitive person and find these things more difficult than most people do, bear your sufferings without bitterness and offer them up to the Lord.”[4]
Today, may we thank God for the diversity that exists among us. May we recognize that at times we are like unpolished gems that God has placed in a gem grinder. As we bump into each other in this gem grinder, we help polish one another so that our brothers and sisters become increasingly recognizable as precious gems created in the image and likeness of God. The condition for the polishing to take place is to remain in the faith community and not choose to leave the gem grinder, the Catholic Church.
May God Bless You All – Father Peter
[1] Joseph Ratzinger, Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today, trans. A. Walker (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996), 157-161.
[2] Joseph Ratzinger, Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today, trans. A. Walker (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996), 157-161.
[3] Eusebe Menard, Guidelines for Life, 43.
[4] Eusebe Menard, Guidelines for Life, 43.
Catholic Evangelization 