Feast of the Apostle Saint Matthew

I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace:
one Body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul urges his people to live peaceably with one another. I get the impression as I read these words that keeping peace and practicing peace didn’t come easily to them. Notice the words he uses: urge, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing, striving to preserve the unity, and bond.

Are these the words you would expect to hear when someone invites you to join a community? That you should prepare to be humble, gentle, patient, and bear with them? You will have to strive in this fellowship? Wouldn’t you rather join a community that is easy to get along with?

But this Church is not a garden club. It’s not a business community or even a military unit. It will dig deeper into your resources and demand more of your personal life than any of those organizations. You will almost certainly be scandalized at how persistently sin remains in this fellowship of the saved. And you will be dismayed at how your own selfish habits remain.

I have found it helpful to remember I did not join the Church, the Franciscan Order or the priesthood to save them. I may have been sent here by God but it wasn’t for their benefit! It was for my sake. I need this church and I need these people – more than they need me. 

True, I should bring my gifts and share them generously; but more importantly, I should honor the gift of each person in the community, and the opportunity to be among them.