In Church history – there used to be a lot of talk of making reparition for sin. There was, and still remains, this idea that as a body of Christ, we can make reparation for one another’s sins. That the penance we do and the sacrifices we make, can atone for the sin of others.
And this makes sense.
If, as a child, your vision in your left eye isn’t so good – the part of your brain responsible for vision in your right eye will “over develop” in order to compensate for decreased vision on your left. If you develop a permanent contraction in your hip that would normally prevent you from placing your feet evenly on the ground, the normal curve in your lower back will exaggerate to allow for normal movement. Similarly, if you lose your sense of vision, your sense of touch and taste are heightened to compensate for your lack of visual perception.
And so we see that the human body is able to, and naturally does, compensate for its imperfections.
So can the body of Christ.
While it would be easy for us to just live our own lives as though we weren’t part of a greater, supernatural community of believers – that’s not the reality of the Church. For when we were baptized, we became a part of God’s Kingdom – and that comes with a responsibility that supercedes our own wellbeing. Just as the leg cannot operate on its own and becomes paralyzed if the spinal cord is severed, I, too, cannot live disconnected from the mystical body. No – I run this race with my brothers and sisters. And in so much as they make up for what I lack, I too have a call to make up for where they lack.
Indeed we are called to share in each others’ sufferings, and we are called to atone for one another’s sins. We are called to pray for one another, to fast for one another and to suffer for one another. We are called to live as one body, and beg forgiveness as one body – for the sins of ourselves, of our Church, of our country and indeed of the whole human race.
St. Paul knew this (Colossians 1:24). And we need to remember it.
For the body of Christ on this Earth will never be made up of individuals who have attained perfection. And so – the only way in which we will achieve perfection is if we rely on each other for that which we lack and selflessly offer ourselves, and our lives, for the sake of the Kingdom to which we belong.
Colossians 1:24
Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church
