ISB ~ 1 Corinthians 12 v14 - 26

Everyone serves a vital and indispensable function in the Body of Christ. As the constituent parts of a body perform different functions and yet work together in harmony, so every member of Christ’s Body is assigned an important task for the good of the whole (CCC 791). Some Corinthians apparently disputed the validity of certain gifts—a presumptuous attitude that called into question God’s wise arrangement of the body (1 Cor 12:18) and his free distribution of charisms (12:11).

• Allegorically:the eyes of the body serve knowledge and signify the contemplative life of the Church, whereas the hands serve movement and signify the active life of the Church. So, too, the head of the body is the clergy in authority over the Church, while the feet are the laity who follow the lead of their head (St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12, 3).