“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same things, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (I Corinthians 1:10)

There is only one life worth living; only one life that will bring lasting joy; only one life that can redeem the time allotted us; only one life that can fill the void that tempts so many into darkness:  this is the life of Christ.  The life of joyful unity with perfection through Him and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.  You are welcome to try other ways – most of us do, choosing to join ourselves to whatever passion or fad strikes our fancy – but it is only through participation and membership in the Life and Body of Christ that the various things we do with our time have meaning.

Through Baptism you have been joined to this life and this Body.  This joining is continually healed through Confession and strengthened through regular participation in the Eucharist [as for those who chose not to receive regularly, it is as if the arm of a body tied a tourniquet around itself so as to limit the life-giving transfusions the heart continually offers].  The joy is yours to be had.  The love we share with one another is like oxygen that sustains and enlivens us.  It courses through the blood of this body to each and every part of our body, bringing it vigor and joy.

It is within this context that Paul’s warning must be considered: there must be no divisions among us.  Christ cannot be divided.  A body cannot be torn apart and continue as it was.  When he says that we must be “perfectly joined together in the same mind”, St. Paul is not saying that we all need to look the same, or dress the same, or talk the same, or have the same politics, or think the same.   After all, an arm would serve little purpose if it shaped itself or thought like like an ear.   Two things are required for the kind of unity that St. Paul is describing: agreement over the fundamentals and a refusal to allow anything to replace the love we have for one another.  According to St. John Chrysostom, the community of Corinth was in agreement on doctrine, but they had allowed malice over petty concerns replace their love for one another.  The resulting schism was not sanctifying; it could not bring the joy and salvation that is every Christian’s true inheritance.  This is why he pled with them to be perfectly joined with one another in Christ.  This kind of union is what is required for a healthy parish, a healthy marriage, and a healthy community.  All these are envigorated through their membership in the Body of Christ.

Do you know people who have allowed selfish concerns to crowd out love?  Do you find yourself pulled away from your family and parish by the concerns of this world?  If this continues, how will you live without love?  Who will bring you joy?  You cannot find these inside yourself alone; you cannot find them in the world alone: they are the blessings of Christian community; the natural result of being a part of the healthy Christian body. 

If you are missing the joy; if you are missing the love; then reunite and recommit yourself to Christ, to reestablish yourself in His love, and to love one another as God loves you.