St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians reflects his new sense of belonging to Christ
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
The question “Who are we” is greatly influenced by another question: “Whose are we?”
In many ways, we identify with the sports teams we root for, or the cars we drive, or the brands we wear or the political party we follow.
But we’re reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians this week, and he uses very clear and rich language to talk about his changed sense of whose he is, and to encourage the Ephesians to reflect more deeply on whose they are. Here are three key elements of his message.
First, St. Paul points out: “You were once dead in your transgressions and sins … following the age of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air.” In short, the Ephesians once belonged to a culture of death. But God, he says, “brought us to life with Christ … raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavens in Christ Jesus.” St. Paul — and the Ephesians — now belong to Christ and the culture of life that He’s creating.
Second, St. Paul uses rich trinitarian language to describe this new belonging. For example, he says: “[Christ] came and preached peace to you who were far off … for through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” And then he says: “I kneel before the Father … that He may grant you in accord with the riches of His glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit … and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” We don’t often think about belonging to the trinity. We should! Belonging to a divine community has implications for building human community.
Third, St. Paul speaks about our becoming “one new person” and “one Body” in Christ. We become one with Christ in faith the way husband and wife become one with each other in marriage. That’s a pretty deep sense of new belonging!
In light of these three points from St. Paul, I ask the following questions: 1) Whose are you? 2) How does that sense of belonging shape your everyday actions? 3) We readily wear the colors of our sports teams or put up yard signs declaring our political allegiance. In what ways do we show that we belong to Christ?
This week we celebrate the feast of St. John Paul II (Oct. 22). His papal motto was “Totus Tuus” — totally yours. It referred to his deep consecration to Mary. Here was a man with a keen sense of whose he was! That sense of belonging was an important part of his ability to shape the culture of his time. If we cultivate our own sense of belonging to Christ, it might deepen our capacity to shape the culture of our time, too!
This week in the Office of Readings, we read the story of Queen Esther. She knew who she belonged to — the people of God! And at a pivotal time for her people, she turned to God with prayer and fasting. Perhaps, at a pivotal time for our nation, we might do the same.
