“In this world Jesus is found not only in the Eucharist, but also in the person of the poor, the suffering, the abandoned.”
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hese words of Blessed Guido Conforti, Founder of the Xaverian Missionaries, pronounced at the Eucharistic Congress of Palermo, Italy, in 1924, the theme of which was “The Eucharist and the Missions,” couldn’t be more explicit:
in the Eucharist as in the poor.
Speaking of the strength the Eucharist is for the mission and the missionaries, Bishop Conforti said that partaking of the Eucharist – in the sacrifice, in the banquet, in the adoration – makes it possible for one to see Jesus in the poor. He who stops frequently before that piece of bread, adoring the Lord present, learns to “see”
a mysterious yet real presence, beyond the appearances: sees and adores the Lord.
When we labor for human rights, when we shelter the poor, when we dismantle the bombs, when we rehabilitate child-soldiers and provide education, we do these things not as political activists or mere social workers. We do them not as liberals or conservatives. We do them as people who worship the God incarnate, the God who took human flesh, who, as the Son of Man of the final judgment of Matthew 25, will utter these strange words: “Insofar as you did it to the least of these, you have done it to me.” Christ has said over the least of us: “This is my body.” This is me. Christ’s body is as hidden in the least of us as it is under the appearances of bread and wine. Our faith needs to be uncommon and daring. This faith vision makes one capable of seeing beyond the appearances of the poor, whose features at times make it difficult to recognize the face of a human being; more so, the face of the God-make-man, Jesus.
When we labor for human rights, when we shelter the poor, when we dismantle the bombs, when we rehabilitate child-soldiers and provide education, we do these things not as political activists... We do them as people who worship the God incarnate, the God who took flesh, who, as the Son of Man of the final judgment of Matthew 25, will utter these strange words: “Insofar as you did it to the least of these, you have done it to me.”
It is however, because of this vision – says Blessed Guido – that ‘the exploitation of persons by human beings can be overcome.’ And he explains: “It is necessary that Christ be again in the midst of society. Because only Christ can help the human race and society to conquer selfishness, self-interests, sensuality, and unruly passions. It can therefore help in the practice of true justice, which is contained in one single word:
love, charity. Love of God and of the brethren, who are God’s most beautiful image.”
The Eucharist is presence, but it’s also “convivium,” (= banquet) where that bread is broken and shared. That bread, which is now Jesus, Son of the living God and son of Mary, is
our bread. Blessed Guido continues: “Jesus wants us to call him
our bread so as to warn us that bread and all other goods of life, all God-given, are not so
one individual’s own that they cannot be shared also with others when their need demands it and our strengths allow it.” The bread that is broken and shared is sign and reality of a certain style of life: of a different way of conceiving life: life as a gift, life as an offering, life as love.
“But contrasting with this brotherly love there is human pride, which leads one to love self more than any one else; to wanting to be first and better than any one else. And this, in turn, leads to struggles between individuals, parties and nations, struggles which are proclaimed to be a constant in human society.”
It is said that nothing can be done about this situation, and it cannot be changed…, unless we return to Christ, unless we return to the Eucharist, “sacrament and sacrifice, ultimate expression of Jesus Christ’s love for humankind. The one who frequents the Eucharist, cannot but love God. The one who loves God, cannot but love one’s brothers and sisters. And if all would love brothers and sisters, as consequence of God’s love, the social question wouldn’t even have reason for being.”
This calls for a Church which expresses the living presence of Jesus in the heart of the world through fraternal communion, sharing of the bread and a life of solidarity.
(From Xaverian Mission Newsletter)