Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Everyone has something unique to contribute to community, something needed and can’t be found elsewhere in your family, school, or church. This is how we can know we all belong to the Church founded by Christ. From the moment we are baptized we begin to walk with Him and develop these unique gifts that God has given us. It’s these gifts that allow us to fulfill and develop our function in the different communities to which we belong. This is the message of this Sunday’s second reading from St. Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.
As we grow up, we are ultimately the ones to decide which communities we want to belong to, hopefully recognizing that our communities are just as important to us as we are to them. Without community we wouldn’t be able to grow and face what life brings us.
Unfortunately, we now live in a society in which we can feel alienated from community. Technology has been taking away our ability to interact with each other face to face and it’s easier to communicate through media leaving us inactive in the physical aspects of our communities. We have become selfish and only want to belong to those that really interest us, and not to the others that could possibly have great value in our lives.
Eventually we forget that we are members of a Church that is founded on a tangible, relational love, and in which everyone who wants to follow Christ is welcome. While sports and other activities are important, we can’t forget that God gave us our gifts to be active members of the community founded by Him.
I never thought that God would call me to become a youth minister. As a kid, I was always active in the Catholic community. I used to read at the youth masses back in Mexico, and later in life taught Catechism. I always thought that I would grow up and have a “regular” job outside of the Church. God clearly had other plans for me. I never thought that my gifts would help teenagers develop their relationship with Jesus. I knew for a long time that I had a deep relationship with Him, but I didn’t know that this faith and love for Him would lead me to participate in this community.
Today there are many Catholic churches that encourage young people to be an active part of the community, whether it is by participating in masses, as lecturers or acolytes or simply by participating in events held for teenagers. This is a witness to the fact that we all have a place within the community of Christ and it’s time to use our gifts to fill hearts and souls with the great love that Jesus has for us.
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