St. Joseph of the Lakes

One of the terrible discoveries an infant has to come to is that it is a separate individual distinct from its mother.  We all have to go through this; but before this is discovered there is a long moment in which the infant sees its mother as an extension of itself. All of its needs are met by this extension of self. Although we perceive the distinctiveness of the baby even as it is growing in its mother’s womb, the baby does not. It’s mother’s heartbeat is a part of its environment, as are all the other sounds it hears. This moment of oneness is a beautiful extension of what is being given to us on the Feast of Pentecost. 

St. Paul, in the second reading, reminds us that we are all part of the same Body; we all share the same Spirit. There is an interconnectedness that we have through our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our baptism is an invitation to lay down the harshness of our individual identity to embrace a greater identity, one based on the shared Spirit sent by the Father. It joins at a deeper level, by prompting us toward greater works, even greater than Jesus did while he was with us.   

Once we gain mastery of our unique selves (which really doesn’t happen until our late teens early twenty’s) we become capable of self-giving in such a way as to become one with another person. This is the grace of marriage: that in a real way we become so connected to another that it gives rise to new life and the cycle begins again. Marriage points us to the same sense of union with God. We are called the “bride” of Christ.  He has come to unite himself to us in a pathway similar to what we see of the couples who become singular families. 

Today we celebrate that we are all one in Christ and He is one in us!