Last Sunday, at the end of the Mass and just before the final blessing archbishop Chimoio OFM (archdiocese of Maputo) used a very simple image to encourage everyone to serve the community and to work together.
"How many fingers do you see?" he asked. "Do they look the same? Certainly not. The little one maybe developed later... (and everyone started laughing), the big one should not look down on the others... they are all different and we need them all. You would see immediately if one is missing and say: 'the bishop has one finger missing'. The same with you. Each one of you is important. We are all different but we are all called to serve the community together according to our own gifts. No one is better or more important than another and we need to work together, like the fingers of a hand".
He reminded me of what Paul tells the Corinthians (1Cor. 12)
There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit; there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same Lord. There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all. The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good.
For as with the human body which is a unity although it has many parts—all the parts of the body, though many, still making up one single body—so it is with Christ. And indeed the body consists not of one member but of many.
It was a practical way to remember that once again!
(the previous post have lots of photos of the day)
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