United as One in Christ

In today’s reading from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, it sounds to me that there is serious division going on in the early Church. St. Paul isn’t pulling any punches as he reminds the people that we are to be united in Christ and His Gospel and not the individual gospel of themselves. It’s amazing that 2000 plus years later we still suffer these same kinds of divisions that the early Corinthians were going through. Why does it seem so hard to learn from mistakes made throughout history?

We sometimes forget that the Church belongs to Christ. Christ founded the Church, and the Roman Catholic Church extends so much further than our own little parish in our corner of the world. We are united under Christ with our sister parish and with parishes in our county. We are united in Christ under our bishop and our diocese, and under Pope Leo. The Roman Catholic church is united in communion with 23 other Catholic Rites throughout the world. The word “catholic” means “universal”. Christ formed His Church to be for all people until He returns. We may have different languages, customs, and rites, but we have the same Lord.

Going back to a smaller scale, let us look at our own two little parishes. Holy Trinity and St. Gregory have been linked in Christ by the fact that we share a bishop, a diocese, a priest and a deacon. Over the past years, we have been growing in unity through our continued commitment to support each other.

We are also linked by the fact that our parishes have been developing ways to increase our faith and our knowledge of Christ and His Gospel. In 2026 there are going to be some new ways to do this, as well as things we have done with success over the last few years. There are so many great opportunities for all of us. In fact, our parishes have something for everyone. That does not mean that everyone must participate in everything. God gave us different interests and talents. However, it is important to remember that we should feel challenged in our faith. Anything this big and this important will take us out of our physical and spiritual comfort zones.

Attending programs, social events, studies, fundraisers, and liturgies also give us an opportunity to be of service to others. If something interests you, I bet someone else is interested, too. Invite someone to come with you or offer someone a ride because many people would love to attend but do not like to drive in the evenings. Make sure that neighbors and family members are able to attend Sunday Mass.

Be proud to be a member of Holy Trinity Parish or St. Gregory Parish. Be even prouder in the fact that we are able to come together in the unity of our Lord Jesus Christ as Catholics. We can support our parishes, our diocese, and our universal Church. We can challenge each other in the mission of Christ’s Church– to answer His call and share His light and His Good News to everyone in our communities.

Viva Cristo Rey!
Deacon Gary