Ordinary Time 
Pause
In pictures, Jesus sometimes cradles a lamb or a child. Sometimes he stands in judgment holding a book. Often we see him in agony upon a cross. Sometimes he sits on his mother’s lap looking like a tiny king.
If you were asked to draw Jesus, what would he look like?
Who do you know Jesus to be?
Listen
From Paul, called by God’s will to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and from Sosthenes our brother.
To God’s church that is in Corinth:
To those who have been made holy to God in Christ Jesus, who are called to be God’s people.
Together with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place—he’s their Lord and ours!
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:1-3
Think
When I think about who Jesus is, I tend to think about stories from the gospels. I think about things Jesus said or did, the miracles or the strange parables he told. But Paul reminds us that Jesus is something more; Jesus is someone who brings unity with God and with one another.
Our world doesn’t always feel united. There are often cliques at school. People fight over politics and religion. Sometimes we don’t even get along with our own families. The people Paul was writing to had similar problems. They were fighting a lot with one another about the right way to be followers of Jesus.
Paul calls us to remember that however much we might disagree with or be frustrated with someone, we are one in Jesus. Jesus is God’s way of reaching out to all of us and making us into one family.
Phillip Fackler
Pray
God, you have made us into one family in your son Jesus. Help me to see others as my brothers and sisters, to value others as you value me. Give me the courage to cross the lines that separate me from my classmates and neighbors so that I may see Jesus in them. Amen.
Go
Jesus spoke to the people again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me won’t walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
