January 8 | Making Room for Different Abilities Part I | Make Room | Barry Rodriguez

To describe his vision of the unity and diversity of the Church at its best, Paul uses the metaphor of the parts of the body working together. It is an apt metaphor to describe a community which represents a new way to be human. When we understand that in the Church, as Paul suggests, every person has a unique and cherished contribution to the functioning of the body, we can make room far more effectively for those with disabilities in our midst, elevating their voices and contributions. Shifting our focus from the disability a person has to the unique gifts they bring will allow us to see them as people, first, and will invite us to make room for them in a whole new way, becoming wiser, richer, and stronger in the process. "Christ makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." Ephesians 4:16