A visitor was due
from abroad. He was to be met at the airport. How would he be recognized?
Hardly by his clothes, his hairstyle or his baggage. It would be better
to agree on something that would clearly distinguish him from many others.
Maybe, it would be safer to have two signs of identification.
After the resurrection,
when Jesus joined the tow disciples on the road to Emmaus, they did
not recognize him until he broke bread with them to ease their hunger
and to strengthen their faith. Things have not changed.
The world recognizes
Christ's followers in the breaking of bread both in the feeding and
care of the deprived as well as in the breaking of the bread at the
Eucharist. These twin badges show clearly who were are. Both are essential
to our identity as followers of Jesus.
To celebrate Eucharist
without practical concern for the needs of the deprived is to make mockery
of our Christian calling. To spend oneself in the service of the poor
without the nourishment of the Eucharist is to be impoverished in the
midst of God's bounty.
Neither identification
has a priority over the other. They go hand in hand, nourishing our
faith and proclaiming to the world that Christ is truly risen and lives
on in his followers who are the Church. To share in such identity is
our privilege and our joy.
Claretian Publications MACAU