Striving to Live a Mature Life in Christ Jesus

In today's first reading, Ephesians 4: 1-7, 11-13, St. Paul calls you [and me] 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." 

We live in one Body, the Body of Christ. The bond of Christ's peace unites us. May we strive "to preserve" that peace, living a life of "humility and gentleness, ...patience, bearing with one another through love," and thus preserving "the unity of the Spirit."  How patient am I/are you? How humble and gentle am I/are you? In what ways today did I/did you create unity by "bearing with ...another through love"?

We have been baptized into the Body of Christ, and, in baptism, Paul tells us, "[g]race was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift."  The gifts we have been given are for "building up the Body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood/[womanhood], to the extent of the full stature of Christ."  Am I/are you growing in maturity or are we, as adults, still having temper tantrums when things do not go our way or when we encounter obstacles to our ego's desire to be in control or to assert its "authority over others"? A person who reflects the "full stature of Christ,"  in no way acts in these ways but lives a humble, patient, gentle life, bearing other people's burdens so as to lighten the load another may be carrying!

Full Maturity in Christ Jesus

Today we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord into heaven.  St. Paul says to us in Ephesians 4: 9-13: "When it says, 'he ascended', what can it mean if not that he descended right down to the lower regions of the earth? The one who rose higher than all the heavens to fill all things is none other than the one who descended. And to some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect ...[person], fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself" (emphasis mine).

Jesus descends to our level, except for sin, and returns to heaven, as He is above all corruption. He takes our humanity with Him. He takes all of life with Him to be transfigured by Him, transformed by grace. He awaits for all of creation to "fully mature with the fullness" of Himself. He awaits for us to "come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of Jesus as the Son of God. Yes, He awaits for us to become the perfect person that He intends us to be. For that end, St. Paul, in Eph. 4: 1-4, exhorts us to "lead a life worthy of your vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together."

In what ways am I heeding Paul's words? How selflessly do I live? How gentle  and patient am I with others and myself? Do I, in fact, "preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds" me with others, with the Church, with my family or community members, with my coworkers, with persons of color, of other nationalities, other cultures, other religious; in short with my brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world? In what ways is it evident that I am growing "fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself?