Some of Saint Paul’s best known and most beloved imagery is contained in the passages from First Corinthians that we have heard last week and this week: the many gifts granted by the one same Spirit and the many members making up the one Body of Christ. Few passages from sacred scripture more accurately sum up how Christian vocations work together.

Unlike some of Paul’s other writings, which are a product of the social and religious conventions of his time, these enable us to look at our own lives and the lives of those around us to discern what gifts, what vocations the Holy Spirit has given for the good of all. We can likewise know the joys and sorrows of the other members of the Body and share in them for the strengthening of the whole Body of Christ.