Jesus among us
Several businessmen ran late at a meeting and were rushing to the airport to catch a plane home for supper. As they passed through the airport, one of them bumped an apple cart spilling the apples, which rolled all around. The men rushed on, all but one who stopped and called, “You may have to tell my wife I’ll be late.”
He went back and started gathering apples. They belonged to a blind sixteen-year-old girl. As he collected the apples, he noticed some were bruised, so he gave her forty dollars to compensate. After she thanked him and he was walking away, the girl called out, “Hey mister, are you Jesus?”
Have you seen Jesus? Are you Jesus? We can be Jesus to others in so many ways. Being disciples as the man in the story is one way. When scripture talks about us as the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), it seems a difficult concept. But St Paul clearly says, “You are the Body of Christ”.
St. Augustine helps us understand: “You ought to know that what you receive is the Body of Christ. The cup is the blood of Christ. Christ wanted to entrust us with his body and blood which he shed for the forgiveness of our sins. If you receive this well, you are what you receive.”
We, in a real sense, are the hands and feet of Christ. All of us, whatever our talents, can contribute to making this world a better place. Helping God’s Kingdom to come to fruition, visiting the sick, giving a drink or food to another, struggling for justice – all of these make us Christ on earth.
The world cries out for love. Even if you are a happy person and have friends, you are probably still lonely, sometimes. At times we hurt. We live in pain, in loneliness.
Petula Clarke sang:
When you’re alone and life is making you lonely you can always go – downtown.
The lights are much brighter there. You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares…and go downtown.
We all need a gentle hand sometimes to guide us along the way. The cry for love surrounds us in this world. In a small town in Spain a man named Jorge had a bitter argument with his son Paco. Paco ran away from home. Jorge’s love drove him to post a huge sign in the town square which read, “Paco, come home. I love you. Meet me here tomorrow morning.” Next morning when Jorge arrived there were seven young men named Paco, each hoping it was his dad waiting with open arms. (Alan Cohen, from A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul).
Father Walter Ciszek is an example of a life poured out to God. Imprisoned in the Siberian Gulag he was once thrown into a train compartment with twenty hardcore criminals who took his clothes and threatened his life. Angry and afraid, Ciszek thought, “This was the situation, these were the people, I kept trying to tell myself, that formed the will of God for me today.”
Father Ciszek left a message before his death that speaks to us today: “Tell them to do God’s will every day. Tell them to give God’s will their lousy best.” Perfect we are not, but you and I can become a better a parent, welder, writer, student… every day. We just have to do our lousy best.
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