Theodore of Tarsus

Sermon preached on Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Year 2, Proper 19, Tuesday, Daily Mass:
Psalm 100, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14,27-31; Luke 7:11-17

Theodore of Tarsus was Archbishop of Canterbury in the 7th Century. He was from Tarsus, the city of Saint Paul in the East, but relocated to England when the English Church was in dire need of leadership and stability following a plague. He was a great catalyst for uniting Christians throuhgout England who had been fighting with each other.

Its is wonderful that we get to hear from Saint Paul about the Body of Christ in the world on this day. Christian disagree with each other even when they live together, but Paul reminds us that we are all one Body in Christ, many different members but one Body. We all have different gifts and we are all called different roles in the Church. I'm going to hazzard a guess that none of us today here at Saint Mary's will be called as the Archbiship of Canterbury but that doesn't lessen what each of us can bring to Our Lord's Table.

We each receive from the same broken bread and same cup of wine at our Lord's Table, likewise we are each members of the one Body of Christ. Saint Paul calls us to cultivate the gifts we have and use the role we have in the church. One way we can live our roles in the church and use those gifts is to unite Christians and help them to realize that we are all one Body in Christ.