Almost everyone is familiar with the story of the conversion of St Paul when he was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians. He was thrown to the ground by a blinding light and heard a voice say, "Why do you persecute me?" Paul asked, "Who are you, sir?" And the voice of the Lord responded, "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting" (Acts 9:5). Paul had been persecuting Christians, but Jesus identified Himself with His followers.

This event shaped Paul's thinking and understanding. It gave him a deep insight into the relationship between Christ and Christians. In fact, when he used the name "Christ" in his writings, he almost always meant Jesus, not in isolation, but in union with his followers, the Church.

Some Corinthians had taken pride in their charismatic gifts and entered into rivalry with one another to determine who was the more important. To Paul, these reactions made no sense. He asked the Corinthians to consider that a human body was made up of many parts which formed a single whole.

Likewise, in the Church, it does not matter whether one is Jew or Greek, slave or free, a prophet, a healer or one who speaks in tongues. All become one in Christ, united by His one Spirit, just as all the parts of the body form one whole. We are the body of Christ. It is He who acts within us. It is He with whom we are in contact when we are in contact with each other.