Becoming Christ to Others

November 10, Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
Philemon 7-20 and Luke 17:20-25

How beautiful is the first line of today’s first reading, “I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love”. I wonder how many people we have encountered can also say the same thing to us. How many are refreshed in their faith because of their experience of us?

This is the call of today’s Gospel, a continuation of yesterday’s Gospel - that we become Christ to others. We are exhorted to become the presence of God in our homes, in our neighbors, in our workplaces, in our communities. In every place where we set foot, there must be Christ because our actions speak of the love of Christ.

But the call to do this mission is not easy. It is a great adventure but never like an outing or a field trip where we satisfy our desires and senses. While it may be easy to bring joy and encouragement to those we like or to those who do the same to us, it is extra challenging to be charitable to others. It comes with great sacrifice just like Christ had to suffer for our sake.

Our mission to serve others is a daily call, never seasonal. We are reminded today that no one knows when the Kingdom would come. But as long as we live our true identity as Christ’s followers, then we are assured that Christ lives among us. When we allow Christ to live in us, we become His presence to others.

How can this happen? We need to always refresh our hearts in Christ. How beautiful it is that Jesus instituted the Eucharist so that each day we can be refreshed and be ready to be His witnesses to all those we encounter. It is when we are deeply rooted in Christ and share the fruit of our rootedness in Him that we truly become the Kingdom. Until then, we are just shattered pieces.