The Christian life, as St. Paul presents it here, is neither a way of finding individual self-fulfilment, in which our own needs are paramount, nor is it an ideology that subordinates our individuality to some kind of pre-existing scheme. It is a fellowship of persons who, as they follow Christ, become themselves by taking the others fully into account.

There can be times when this happens simply and easily: times of spontaneous joy in being together as Christ’s disciples, which can be like a foretaste of God’s kingdom. But there are also times when such unity requires a conscious effort or even a struggle. If we find that the personality or way of thinking of other believers is uncongenial to us, it is tempting to impose ourselves or our point of view on them; or else to withdraw from them and seek to surround ourselves with a smaller, more comfortable group of likeminded people. But Christ’s Church is not a group of the likeminded. It is a fellowship of very diverse people, who do not necessarily get on well with each other by nature, but who are called to follow the same Lord.

Hence Paul encourages us to “bear with” one another (v. 1), to “accept one another” (v. 7), and to “please” or to seek to give joy to one another (v. 2). When we seek to give joy to those we do not spontaneously find it easy to be with, because our first priority is not ourselves but Christ, this is a sure sign that we are following him. Paul encourages us in this by reminding us that this is exactly what Christ himself did, following and fulfilling teaching already to be found in the Old Testament (in verse 3 he quotes Psalm 69).

This kind of radical solidarity requires “patient endurance” or “perseverance”, which is profoundly linked to encouragement and to hope (vv. 4-5). Today, many people are lonely, many are wounded by failures to remain faithful (the failures of others or their own), and many find it difficult to see their future with hope. The perseverance that Paul recommends is not the easy choice, but it tends to clean and to heal these wounds in depth. In this way of life, disagreements and difficulties in getting along can become the starting point for a far more radical unity: they become opportunities to hand over to God much that we are personally attached to, as Christ did; and that handing over in trust to God becomes a factor of unity far deeper than shared opinions or personal preferences. This is, in Paul’s words, a way of “glorifying God with one heart”—both because it leads to a joy in him that produces thanksgiving, and because it can show to other people something of what God is like.

September 2026

What do you want?

John 1:35-42

When John saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

August 2026

Words of Life

Matthew 7:24-27

Jesus said: Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

July 2026

Jesus, Mediator of God and Humankind

1 Timothy 2:3-6

God our Savior desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. There is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave his life to set all human beings free—this was attested at the right time. This passage from Paul’s first letter to Timothy begins with a reminder of God’s definitive plan, the universal salvation of humanity: God "wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” This salvation is brought about through Christ’s gift of his life: he is the one, Saint Paul continues, who “gave his life to set all human beings free.”

June 2026

Praying in Secret

Matthew 6:5-6

Jesus said: Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. . There are few passages in the gospels where Jesus offers concrete, practical advice—almost to the point where a literal interpretation is called for. When we read “love your enemies,” for example, we are invited to apply this teaching to our lives, knowing that it is a challenge to love that is possible only with God’s help. But when we hear “When you pray, go into your room,” or to a private place, this is a practical example that most people can follow at home.

May 2026

Widening our Friendship

Acts 2:1-11

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”

April 2026

The Mystery of the Passover

John 12:20-28

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who cling to their life lose it, and those who are not attached to their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor."Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—"Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name."

March 2026

Do You Want to Get Well?

John 5:1-9

There was a Jewish feast, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool called Bethzatha in Aramaic, which has five covered walkways. A great number of sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying in these walkways. Now a man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized that the man had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water, someone else goes down there before me.” Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Immediately the man was healed, and he picked up his mat and started walking. (Now that day was a Sabbath.)

February 2026

Where are You Staying?

John 1:35-39

The next day, John was standing there again with two of his disciples. He looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, "Here is the Lamb of God." The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What are you looking for?" They said to Him, "Rabbi – which means Teacher – where are you staying?" He replied, "Come and see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about the tenth hour (around four in the afternoon).

January 2026

"If You Knew What God Gives"

John 4:5-15

Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

December 2025

An inner light

John 1:1-12

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.