Reflection
Broken, Shared, & Eaten
Nine months old child dies without water and milk, as the parents traveled by train which was run for migrants during the pandemic, Covid-19.
Another woman dies without water and food on the railway platform and her child pulled the cloth that covered her body not knowing that she had died.
There were more than 80 people, who died in the trains, according to the data released by Indian Railways, during their journey to the native places, without reaching their destination and not meeting their loved ones.
There are people, who die of hunger in one part of our world.
There are people, who waste their food lavishly without a prick of conscious in the other part of our world.
At this moment of tragedy, we need to define our role as a follower of Jesus Christ.
In another words, what is our mission at this pandemic moment to address the hunger and poverty?
As we celebrate the Body and Blood of Christ today, it calls each one of us to reflect on the role that we have to play and to address this crisis in our world.
I would like to propose 5-Ss to restore God’s mission in our social environment at this moment of Covid-19, pandemic.
1. Surrender:
First of all, we have the first S, surrender.
Surrender to the Lord and Master who said that I am with you till the end of the age.
Our surrender brings out new ways and means to preach the Gospel with the other, who long to hear it.
Francis of Assisi said that preach always, if need be use the words.
Our online Eucharist and other prayers online or offline, will be meaningful if we totally surrender to the Lord in our crisis moment,
And to discern our ministry as the apostles discerned their ministry with the Risen Spirit.
2. Strategise:
The second S is strategise.
Once, we surrender to the Lord and discern His ways, we enter into strategising the mission believing that we will do well with our Lord’s accompaniment.
Strategise means planning the course of actions.
In this process, we can ask ourselves a few questions.
What is the one way that we can reach out to the poor, needy, migrants, marginalised?
Find the one way.
The one way may be or can be our ‘vision’.
This vision can be achieved through various ways.
Various ways can be understood as our ‘missions’ or the ‘objectives’ of vision to reach out to the periphery.
3. System:
The third S stands for system.
After strategising, we need a system to function in order to achieve the vision smoothly.
Here, system means networking with others.
It is not only that the Church initiates and involves but also connects and approaches the various stakeholders in the locality, focusing on the vision.
Taking the inspiration from Jesus himself who was involved with Jews, Samaritans, Gentiles and so on, it can actively involve few representatives from affected people, government officials, other NGOs and volunteers from local communities in addition to our own people.
In this way, we can powerfully preach that Jesus came to this world not only for Christians but also for the whole of humanity.
It gives powerful witness to God’s love.
4. Share:
The fourth S, is to share.
Sharing is something special to heart.
Giving away is the beauty of heart.
Sharing comes from giving away something.
Here, I would say that sharing our resources is important.
First and foremost, we need to know the resources needed for the vision to be achieved.
We have individual talents.
We have collective talents.
Some have money.
Some have materials.
Some can give their time as volunteers.
We have to pull together all these resources for the one goal.
And we will finally find that we have more than enough.
There is no lack of resource on this earth.
God is generous and He provides everything for needy people.
What do we need?
We need to have a heart to share and a heart to give.
We should remind ourselves that early Christian community shared in common whatever they had.
And,
They were happy.
Because,
They practiced what they preached.
5. Sacrifice:
The fifth S, is sacrifice.
Sacrifice is not the final point, but sacrifice is the starting point.
God sacrificed His only Son on the Cross.
It was not an end but the beginning.
Sacrifice is the core of a disciple of Jesus Christ.
God’s mission, is not possible if we do not have an attitude of sacrifice.
Sacrifice gives us the generous heart to give ourselves fully and involve in the mission of Jesus Christ in building the Kingdom of God on this earth.
Sacrifice gives us responsibility.
Sacrifice is commitment.
Sacrifice challenges us.
Sacrifice gives us courage.
Sacrifice strengthens us.
Sacrifice is everything.
Those who sacrifice their life for the sake of Jesus and His work, add meaning to their lives.
I am sure that these 5-Ss can give some direction to reach out to the hungry and thirsty humanity during this crucial moment of the world as we celebrate the Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ today.
Once, Jesus comes in us,
We live our life for others.
We live for the poor.
We live for the oppressed.
We live for those who mourn.
We live for malnourished children.
We live for those who are marginalised.
We live for those who are migrants.
We live for those discriminated by race.
We live for tribal people.
We live for those who are persecuted for justice sake.
By doing all of the above and more,
We might become one with God through Jesus,
As His body and blood on this earth.
Happy Solemnity of Corpus Christi to all.
May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen...
