WE Are the Body

“In every society the constituent individuals are united, as are also the members of a body, to effect a common end; while the parts they severally play correspond to the functions of the bodily organs. They form a moral unity. This, of course, is true of the Church, but the Church has also a unity of a higher order; it is not merely a moral but a mystical body. This truth, that the Church is the mystical body of Christ, all its members being guided and directed by Christ the head, is set forth by St. Paul in various passages.”  —Catholic Encyclopedia

 

God has called each of us to be a part of His church.  To build it up and keep it alive.  We aren’t the future of the Church, we are the Church.  Right now.  And as the Church, we are the body of Christ.  Think about it, Christ came to earth and showed us how to act and how to live and love one another.  Now that He is no longer physically on earth, the responsibility of sharing his love and building up His church falls to us, his disciples.  He is not here in person, but He is embodied in each of us.

We become His arms, reaching out to those in need.

We become His hands, healing the sick and the brokenhearted.

We become His voice, teaching others of God’s love.

But if we are the body, why aren’t His feet going?  Why is His love not showing them there is a way?  What is holding us back and keeping us from living the way that God wants us to?

That’s what God calls us to do.  To go out and teach our peers.  To set an example for our friends at school and show them that Jesus is the way.

John 15:7-12 says “Christ is the center and source of life to whom all are united, and Who endows each one with gifts fitting him for his position in the body.  These graces, through which each is equipped for his work, form it into an organized whole, whose parts are knit together as though by a system of ligaments and joints.”  This means that God has given each of us our own talents so that we can go out and do what He has called us to do.  We are all talented.   Each and every one of us.  Our talents are different, but they are what make us unique.  They set us apart from the rest of the crowd.  Thy give us each our own value and potential.  And most importantly, they give us the ability to go out and do whatever God asks of us.  But the thing is, as humans, we seem to be programmed to see the talents and beauty of everyone else, but blind to our own qualities.

God also calls us to help one another see our place in this body of Christ.  We have to be here for each other in times of need and support one another.  To help each other thrive spiritually and emotionally.

I mean, yeah, we can always choose to live in our own little world and not worry about the people around us, but what kind of life is that?  Would you rather be looked at as the person that is always cold and self absorbed or someone that is always willing to go out of their way to make others happy?

The choice is always yours.

I’m All In

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go on my 3rd Teen ACTS retreat, but this time as a team member.  Last summer when they were preparing for the 2012 retreat, one of my friends told me that being on team would change my life, and of course I didn’t believe him.  But he was so very right.  Being a team member allowed me to step back and change the lives of the retreatants.  To watch them grow in their faith and come to know God in new ways.  It’s amazing to witness.

No matter what happens in life, God is always by your side.  Even if you begin to push him away, he will never abandon you.   It seems that these days we let our fear of the unknown get in the way of what really matters because we are too afraid – too doubtful- to simply cast all of our possessions and luxuries aside and follow Christ.  We are so worried that if we open ourselves fully to God that He won’t like what He sees, leading Him to turn us away.  If you think about it, that fear is one of the things that makes us so beautifully human.  We live in a world where our peers are constantly judging our imperfections and mistakes, which makes us feel as if our human qualities are going to make God love us less.  We get so caught up in this fear that we forget that God already knows every single part of us: every wrongdoing, every anxiety, every truth that we hide even from ourselves.  But the thing is, God doesn’t care about all of our mistakes.  He only wants us to have the courage to stand up, cast all of our doubts and burdens aside, and follow Him.  I often find myself wondering how our perfect Father could love such imperfect children, but then I remember that even the most beautiful swan was once the ugly duckling.  God knows that we are far from pure, but He invites us to follow Him so that we may take part in the good that He does and learn to become more like Him.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Christ died on the cross so that all of our sins could be forgiven.  Don’t empty that cross of its meaning by assuming that God will turn you away. If you ever feel estranged from Him, remember that He isn’t the one that has moved.  All you have to do is have faith and ask for His forgiveness.  Trust Him with all your heart, all your being, all your strength, and all your mind.

Do yourself a favor, if you ever have the opportunity to go on an ACTS retreat, do it.  It’ll change your life.

“Sometimes the only available mode of transportation is a leap of faith.”

Something Old

So I was planning on doing something witty about old things, but it turns out that doing a google search for “something old” will only get you five billion pages talking about “Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.”  Since this week isn’t about a wedding (that’s in April!) that saying doesn’t really apply, so I actually have to try being creative.

For my photography class at school we have to put together a portfolio, one of the categories being extraordinary architecture.  Architecture is something I’ve never really explored, and it’s actually pretty frustrating for me..  I don’t know why, seeing as it seems like I should just be able to take a picture of a building and call it a day, but (unfortunately) photography doesn’t seem to work that way, neither does my mind, for that matter.

So I figured that maybe old buildings would make it a little easier since more contrast with them can be more captivating.  I think they’re pretty decent for my first try : P  But of course this isn’t the end of my architecture adventures.

The first place we went was the old county courthouse:

 

I love the color of that door.. Just saying.

  

Then we drove by this field, which is also old in a way, seeing as a lot of my childhood memories involve the boots on their fence.

Then I found this little shed 😀

Then we went to pick up my little brother from the family welding shop.

My grandfather was a blacksmith back in the day.  He died a long time before I was born, so I never really got to see this place put to use, but it sure made for a fun scene when my brothers and I played cowboy games : )

 

And the last place we went (well, the first really- I just don’t feel like moving all of these photos up to the top of the post, lol)  was the church.  Cemeteries speak of “old” on so many levels, so I thought it might turn out cool.

And that is all of my Saturday afternoon adventure, but trust me- there will be many more to come : )

Have a great week!