ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 12 v21

NO JOY IF OTHER MEMBERS MISSING. ORIGEN: If the eye is healthy and one can see clearly, what joy will it have if the other members of the body are missing? How would it appear to be perfect without the hands, the feet or the other parts of the body? HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 7.

IRON CAN DO WHAT GOLD CANNOT. AMBROSIASTER: The person who is greater in rank or dignity cannot do without those who are lower. For there are things which a humbler person can do which an exalted one cannot, just as iron can do things which gold cannot. Because of this, the feet perform an honorable function for the head. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

GREATER GIFTS CANNOT DO WITHOUT THE LESSER. CHRYSOSTOM: The greater gifts cannot do without the lesser ones, because if even the lesser ones are harmed, the body will not function properly. What is lower than the foot? Or what is more honorable or necessary than the head? But the head, however important it is, is not self-sufficient, nor can it do everything by itself. If that were so, there would be no need to have feet. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 31.1.

EYES, HANDS AND FEET NEED EACH OTHER. JEROME: The church has real eyes: its teachers and leaders who see in sacred Scripture the mysteries of God. … It also has hands, effective persons who are not eyes but hands. Do they plumb the mysteries of sacred Scripture? No, but they are powerful in works. The church has feet: those who make official journeys of all kinds. The foot runs that the hand may find the work it is to do. The eye does not scorn the hand, nor do these three scorn the belly as if it were idle and unemployed. HOMILIES ON MATTHEW 85.

1 Cor