Our Lady Of Perpetual Help

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Reflection - Week of May 17

Question of the Week:

What will I do this week to give witness to Christ in me and my neighbor?

     Not only does Jesus remain with us, as he promised his disciples, but we become Christ for others by virtue of our baptism. Today we hear Jesus commanding his disciples to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit . . .” (Matthew 28:19). When we are baptized, we “put on Christ,” as the priest or deacon says in the baptismal rite. We become Christ for others when we allow him to do his work through us, when we give our time, our talents, and our energy to the Lord to use as God wills. Jesus has ascended, but he is not gone.

     Just before entering into his Passion, Jesus told his disciples that what they do for the least among them they do for him. Indeed, in addition to us putting on Christ in baptism, Christ is present in our neighbor in need. As Paul would say, with the “eyes of [our] hearts” enlightened (Ephesians 1:18), we can see Christ in those who are hungry or thirsty, those lacking decent clothes or shelter, those ill or imprisoned. No, Jesus is not only “up there in the sky”; he is also here on earth, in us and in the least of our sisters and brothers.