Red Blood Cell or Glob of Plaque?
God has entrusted to each of us a unique role, a unique mission of love, within the Body of Christ. That may seem hard to believe at first: God has given me a special mission of love to carry out in life? But it’s true. Each of us is given the great privilege, and the solemn responsibility, of helping to pass on the divine love to other members (and prospective members) of the Body of Christ. Which includes everyone, because God wants everyone to share in his divine life and love forever (Matt 18:14; 1 Tim 2:4). You have been given a unique mission to share the divine love with others. The unique meaning and purpose of your life lies in your mission of love. Your mission is irreplaceable. No one else can fulfill your mission for you. No one else’s life will touch the exact combination of people that your life will touch. No one else can make the contribution to the eternal circulation of love flowing within the Body of Christ that you were born to make. What is the mission of love with which God has entrusted you?
For most of us, the mission of love that God has in mind isn’t some dramatic, world-changing mission, something that will have a huge impact on the world as a whole or draw a lot of attention to us. Instead, most of us are called to local missions of love. There’s a saying that goes something like “Strive to make your little corner of the world a better place.” It’s a good saying. If we all did that, the whole world would be a much better place.
The absolutely best way to make your “little corner” of the world a better place is to spread some of the divine love to that little corner. Start at home. How can you be more loving to your spouse? How can you be more loving to your children? Then extend yourself further: how could you be more loving to your friends? Your neighbors? Your co-workers? The people you perceive to be your “enemies”?
We all have a choice in life: we can be red blood cells flowing within the Body of Christ, helping to carry life-giving oxygen (the divine love) to other members and prospective members of that Body, or we can choose to be globs of plaque, clogging the arteries of that Body and obstructing the flow of divine love. Most of us are a little bit of both. Resolve to be more of a red blood cell and less of a glob of plaque.
* This article is an excerpt from Rick’s latest book, The Book of Love: Brief Meditations (https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/thebookoflove/)
Copyright 2023 Rick Clements
Rick Clements
Rick Clements writes and speaks about the Catholic faith, with a particular focus on the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar and its application to Christian discipleship and evangelization. Rick is the author of two books: The Meaning of the World Is Love: Selected Texts from Hans Urs von Balthasar with Commentary (Ignatius Press, 2022) and The Book of Love: Brief Meditations (En Route Books, 2023), and he also writes articles for Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. He has a PhD in clinical psychology from Purdue University and a certificate in lay ecclesial ministry, and he has taught psychology at several universities. Find more of his work at richardclements.org
Quite lovely. The photo is what drew me in, but I’m glad I stayed to read the entire narrative. Thank you for the reminder. I needed it at just this moment–since I’ve been questioning my own role as a witness through the written word.
(On an an entirely quirky side note: I actually thought the photo was an open pomegranate! It looks quite similar to the featured image, IMHO. :-D)
–Sarah
Thanks for your comment, Sarah. I’m glad you liked the article.
(And I agree – the photo does look like an open pomegranate!)
-Rick