"All of us, in union with Christ, form one body": this is the vertical dimension of the Mystical Body. All functions of the human body (conscious or unconscious) are controlled from the brain; so it is in the Mystical Body. Without a radical union with Christ, we are dead members. But do not forget the horizontal dimension, which is also in today's first reading: "As parts of it we belong to each other". Ignore this interdependence, and instead of a body we have a scourge - a handful of strings bound at one end by a handle, but scattered at the other end. We are not a scourge, but a net: we are interwoven with the bonds of charity.

The Banquet: Host and guest form a special team of human relationships. And this principle applies to all ages and cultures of human history. The most animal of all human activities has been used as a sacred rite in a numberless variety of forms. The Old Covenant was sealed with a meal, and the annual celebration was as a sacred family meal. Now the New Covenant, in its different aspects, is also presented with the symbol of a meal: The Wedding feast, the Church, the Eucharist, Heavenly Glory.... And all are invited, without discrimination; only the impolite citizens who ignore the invitation are excluded.