Mind Meld

Putting on the mind of Christ  

1 Corinthians 2:10B-16  Brothers and sisters: The Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God. Among men, who knows what pertains to the man except his spirit that is within? Similarly, no one knows what pertains to God except the Spirit of God. For “who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to counsel him?” But we have the mind of Christ.   

          You can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. By now you’ve started figuring out who your friends will be here at Trinity, they are the “company” you will keep. If they join band, you’ll join band; if they play football, you’ll play football; if they play volleyball, you’ll play volleyball; if they jump off a bridge, you’ll jump off a bridge! Friends are a formidable force in our lives; they profoundly influence us.   

          One side effect of friendships is you start to talk like them. If they use curse words, you begin to use curse words; if they speak with a Southern drawl (and say “ya’ll”), you talk with that same twang; and if you’re good friends with my parents, you’ll start talking with an Indian accent and bobbing your head back and forth. But more than just talking like them, you start thinking like them. What’s important to them becomes important to you; what’s odious to them becomes odious to you; what’s funny to them becomes funny to you; what’s boring to them becomes boring to you, if they don’t sing in church, you don’t sing in church.  See how that works? If you’re a Star Trek fan, you’d say this is equivalent to the “Vulcan mind meld” where two people become essentially one mind.    

          In the first reading today, St. Paul encourages the Corinthians to have such a close friendship with Jesus that they, too, are one mind with him. St. Paul writes: “For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord so as to counsel him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” He’s not telling the Corinthians who lived in Greece, to speak with a Jewish accent like Jesus did. Rather, he’s urging them to think like him, to feel like him, to believe like him, to pray like him, so that ultimately, they can live like him. In other words, just like each of you seeks to have the spirit of your friends, so St. Paul wants the Corinthians to have the Spirit of Christ, that is, the Holy Spirit, a sort of spiritual mind meld with Jesus.   

          Boys and girls, as you look around for friends here at Trinity, be choosy and careful. The friends you make here last a life-time. This year our school celebrates our thirty year anniversary, and those Trinity graduates from 30 years ago still get together with their Trinity friends. Pick your friends wisely: you’ll be hanging out with them for a long time! But there’s another friendship we want you to make here at Trinity, and that is with Jesus. We want Jesus to be your best friend. I say this with all due respect to those students who may not be Christian. But coming to a Catholic school is all about forming a friendship with Christ that lasts forever. To think like him, to believe like him, to judge like him, to pray like him, to play like him, to eat like him, to sleep like him, to study like him, to play sports like him. To become so utterly one with him that if Jesus were to jump off a bridge, you would jump off a bridge too. Friendship is a very formidable force.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!