Unnecessary Divisions

"First of all, I hear that when you meet as a Church there are divisions among you, and to a degree I believe it." 1 Cor 11:18

St Paul was more than a little upset with the Corinthian community. Hearing that they had divisions between rich and poor especially over the quality of food, he condemned them. Listen: "When you meet in one place, then, it is not to eat the Lord's supper, for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk." That some in the community were hungry because others refused to share with them, St Paul was outraged. Unfortunately, these kinds of divisions have always befuddled us and continue to do so.

When the Berlin wall was toppled in 1989, many touching but painful stories of families living on both sides of the wall without any means of communication emerged. Anna Kaminsky left her baby in Berlin to visit her fiancé in Sweden. The next day the wall went up and left her with a terrible choice. Because her fiancé, a writer, was an enemy of the state, she could not return to East Berlin with him, but if she stayed in Sweden she would not be able to visit her son. Pregnant with her second child, a daughter, Anna returned to East Berlin to raise her children, a choice that prevented her new born daughter from ever meeting her father who died before the wall came down.

Are there unnecessary divisions in your parish or community? Pray about this.

Whose example challenges you to work for unity among all people and for basic human rights/