As Christians we live in communion with God. Our baptism makes us part of God’s life. We are grafted into the life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, just as a gardener grafts a new branch onto a rose bush. Many people see God as being separate and far away from us, a spiritual being who does not participate in nor care about our daily lives. Jesus came to show us just the exact opposite. God is acting and inserting himself into our lives constantly. He lets us share the life and love within the Holy Trinity. This is our great joy as Christians.
This communion is not limited to our relationship with God. A true Christian lives in communion with everyone else and with nature. Our own personal violence, envy, and selfishness can produce division among us. The first reading from Acts tells us how the members of the first Christian communities actively took care of each other. Their concern for others was so great that many of them sold their belongings to support others. This active love, support, and concern is the principal sign of a true Christian community or family. That lifestyle shows others that death and sin have been defeated in us.
Anything that we do to promote division in our families, schools, and neighborhoods makes us sign of sin to all those around us. Gossiping, bullying, manipulation, cheating, selfishness, and promoting lies are common ways that we use in our daily lives that produce division. Many times, we use these tactics to promote ourselves or to obtain what we want. These are not just personal sins that damage our lives with God, they also destroy the local faith community. Those practices destroy the image of communion that God has for all of us.
Take some time to ask yourselves: What would your family or school look like with no bullying, no violence, or no selfishness? What would our parish look like with no gossiping, no division, or no manipulations?
We are called to sacrifice all we are and all we have for the good of others to be signs of communion.
I am one with them, and you are one with me,
So that they may become completely one.
Image: ChatGPT C J Dunn 17MAY26 “rectangular, Jesus smiling with disciples at Last Supper” AI generated.