We’re all part of one Body … the Body of Christ!
Homily preached January 23, 2022
by Monsignor Michael Deering

She doesn’t know it, but I fell in love with Barbra Streisand at an early age … right after seeing her in the 1979 movie “The Way We Were”.

I loved the way she looked, the way she acted, I was smitten with her charm.

Over the years I’ve seen several more of her movies such as

Funny Girl, Funny Lady, What’s up Doc?,  For Pete’s Sake, and Yentl,

and each time I knew going in that I would like them because I liked her.

But I know not everyone feels that way. Often when her name would come up in conversation, people would comment on her nose. They’d say something like,

“Boy if I was her, I’d surely have my nose fixed.” Many people didn’t like her nose and thought that with all her money she should have had it fixed!

As far as I was concerned, I wouldn’t change a thing … her nose was just fine.

And if you realize that our ability to sing depends on the whole structure of our mouth and nasal cavity, it’s quite possible that Barbra Streisand’s beautiful and powerful song voice might have been harmed if she ever had surgery on her nose.

Which is probably why she never attempted to change the shape of her nose.

The critique of Barbra Streisand is one small example of how often people aren’t happy with something and wish they could change it and make it different.

In spite of her wit, her humor, her acting, her singing, her awards and her successes, many people think she should change her appearance to be a certain way.

And those feelings of dissatisfaction that we have with celebrities,

we often times have … with ourselves.

There are a good many people who go around wishing they were something else … wishing that they were stronger, or smarter, or prettier, or richer than they are.

In spending time comparing themselves to others, people often fail to recognize

and develop ... the gifts and the talents that God has uniquely given to them.

What’s important to realize is that God never intended two people to be exactly alike.

We see it in God’s plan for snow flakes, where no two snowflakes are ever alike.

And in his design of Man ... God left a lot of room for uniqueness … which is why ... just like snowflakes ... no two human fingerprints are ever alike either!

Nineteen years ago, scientists completed the Human Genome Project ...

where they identified some 25,000 human genes ....

which can be combined in some 3.1 Billion different sequences!

And these sequences are grouped into genes that direct the production of some 30,000 different proteins that are the building blocks of the human person.

Now if you multiply the number of different proteins

by the number of different gene sequences ...

you get an astronomical number of possible combinations,

which is why there are no two people exactly alike!

That’s the way God wanted it. He wanted variety and so He created the number of DNA combinations to be so high that no two people would ever be exactly alike.

By building such diversity into our makeup He insured that each of us would be a singularly unique human person … you could say ... a unique flower in His garden.

That’s actually the verbiage that St. Therese, the Little Flower, used 100 years ago, in explaining that God calls all persons to be content with ... who they are!

She said, “I realized that all the flowers (God) has made are beautiful;

          the rose in it’s glory, (and) the lily in its whiteness,

don’t rob the tiny violet of its sweet smell, or the daisy of it’s charming simplicity.

She went on, “I saw that if all these lesser blooms wanted to be roses instead,

nature would lose the gaiety of her springtide dress –

there would be no little flowers to make a pattern over the countryside.”

Florists do this all the time in making a Bouquet of Flowers ... they put together an array of different flowers and greenery which is very pleasing to look upon.

St. Therese concludes, “And so it is in the world of souls, which are (God’s) garden. He wanted to have great Saints, to be His lilies and roses, but He has made lesser Saints as well; and these lesser ones must be content to rank as daises and violets, lying at His feet and giving pleasure to His eye like that. Perfection consists simply in doing His will, and being just what he want us to be.”

So you see, once we understand that it was never God’s intention for us to be

just like another person, then we can let go of the frustration

that comes from comparing ourselves to others.

The goal of our life should not be ... to be just like someone else.

No, the goal of our life should be ... to be just like God wants me to be!

The great apologist and modern day Evangelist, Matthew Kelly, uses a marvelously effective expression to motivate the youth to stop comparing themselves to others.

He directs them to ...   Just be the best version of yourself!

Yeah, don’t worry about being the best version of Mom or Dad or your Classmate or your Teammate or an Athlete or Entertainer or your Next Door Neighbor!

Just be ... the best version of ... yourself!

In our Second Reading today, St. Paul makes some powerful analogies to help us see how each individual person plays a unique part in God’s plan of Creation.

He first speaks of the human body and how it’s a composite of many different parts … with each part performing a specific role that is helpful to the whole body. 

He asks, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?”

And “If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?”

Our human bodies are a marvelous network of greater and smaller body parts,

each performing their own function, for the good of the whole body.

Paul says, “God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended.”

And since all these big and little parts are needed for the good of the whole body, the eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” 

Just as the head cannot say to the feet, “I do not need you.”

All the various parts are needed to make up the human body!

And it’s here that Paul calls us to see ... that together as human beings,

we human beings ...  also make up a body … the Body of Christ!

He says, “You are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.”

What great dignity we have ... that each of us make up a part of the Body of Christ! 

Which means that no one has the right to say to another person,“We don’t need you.”

For by God’s design, each person was chosen by God to play some role in the Mystical Body of Christ.

That’s one of the reasons why God commanded us to gather together each week in Church … for it’s here that we get to see the other parts of our body …

and we’re reminded that we are an important part of a whole community of people

who make up the Body of Christ!

Look around and see how different we are;

see the variety that God has designed into His Church.

That’s the way God made us, different in size and shape and talents,

but all necessary for the working of the whole mystical body of Christ.

About 200 years ago, there was a young man by the name of John Vianney who lived in France and felt that God was calling him to be a Priest. At that time you had to know the Latin language ... for the Mass was prayed in that language.

Well, three different times John Vianney flunked his Latin Exam ...

and the Bishop ordained him a Priest anyway ...

     and sent him to serve in a small church in the rural town of Ars, France.

While Fr. Vianney didn’t have the gift of learning foreign language, he had a great love for God and people that showed up in dedicated care & service to them

Over the years, the town of Ars underwent a great Spiritual conversion ...

and people from all over France would come visit Ars  ...

to go to Confession to Fr. Vianney and get his counsel and direction.

Many souls were brought back to God through his labors. And after his death,

the Church declared that he led a life of heroic virtue and declared him a Saint. 

And what’s very special about this humble Priest, is that Rome declared him the Patron Saint of Parish Priests … the man who had trouble learning his Latin!

God doesn’t want us to lament over the gifts we’ve not been given.

He wants us to recognize the gifts we’ve been given ...

and to use those gifts to build up the Body of Christ on earth.

Can you imagine what the world would be like today if everyone just used their God given gifts … instead of wasting time comparing themselves to others. 

There would be no such thing as frustration; there would only be the joy

 that comes from developing and using your individual gifts ...

to the glory of God and the service of your fellow man.  

People often admit that they are jealous or envious of what others have.

They’re jealous that others have a happy marriage, or a glamorous job ...

     or a shiny new Cadillac.  

What they fail to see is that just by being baptized into God’s family, they are part of the Mystical Body of Christ and they have the birthright to Everlasting Life!

As long as they strive to turn away from sin and do God’s will,

they will merit to be with Him forever in Heaven.   What else could you ever want?

There’s no need to compare yourself with others …  when you’ve got it all!

If you get to Heaven ... you’ve got it all!

Paul reminds us today of the great gift we’ve received, declaring:

“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body …

and we were all given to drink of the one Spirit.”

Together as baptized Catholic Christians, we make up the Body of Christ.

Yes we’re different from one another, but from God’s perspective, that’s OK!

In fact that’s exactly His plan.

He creates Roses, and He creates Daisies …

each with their own gifts and their own unique place in God’s Garden.

You know the most common flower that florists send to lovers is the Madam Del Mar Red Rose.  It is indeed beautiful, but do you know what, they have no scent!       They look mighty beautiful but you can barely smell them.

By comparison, the Oceania Rose which is Peach in color has a glorious scent that will permeate an entire room! Different in appearance, maybe not as striking in color, it is definitely the rose of choice when it comes to a beautiful scent!

Different gifts from different roses … all by God’s design.

Let’s not worry about the gifts we don’t have.

Rather let’s inventory the gifts that we do have and then go about our days

using our gifts and developing our gifts so they blossom like flowers.

God made us different from one another.    That’s not a mistake.

He wants to find delight in a whole array of different gifts and talents.

Remember the dignity that we have in being a part of the Body of Christ.

Each of us is needed for the life of the Body.

By making the best of what we’ve been given,

we will give God great glory

and we will merit to be with Him forever

in His Heavenly Garden.