WORD ALIVE

A priest came out to say Mass with his face plastered with band aids. “I’m sorry I look like this,” the priest said as he started his homily. “This morning as I was shaving and thinking of what to say in my homily, I cut my face.” After the Mass, while he was going over the collection bag, he saw a note which read: “Father, next time shave your face and cut your homily!” \* \* \* In today’s 3rd Easter Sunday gospel, this is what Jesus told the two disciples who looked forlorned—like the priest above—over the report that Jesus had died as they walked on the road to Emmaus. Happily, the story does not end there. The "veiled" encounter with the Risen Christ made them see life in a new light. \* \* \* Their doubts were dispelled in the breaking of the bread as they recognized him. For us, the Emmaus experience is not just a past event that happened long ago. The Risen Christ continues to encounter us--this time through the Sacred Scripture (Word of God) and the breaking of the bread (Eucharist), which two parts compose the Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist in the Holy Mass. \* \* \* Encountering the Lord in his Word and the Eucharist is, however, not just a personal experience or a one-on-one relationship with God. Like the disciples of Emmaus, who afterwards joined the other disciples, they went out to spread the Good News to all parts of the world. Likewise, we must do the same since this is the SOCIAL constituent of our faith. \* \* \* St. James, one of the twelve apostles, puts it clearly in his letter, “What good is it for someone to say, if his actions do not prove it. Can that faith save him? Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don’t have enough to eat. What good is there in your saying to them, ‘God bless you! Keep warm and well!’—if you don’t give them the necessities of life? So it is with faith: if it is alone and has no actions, then it is dead. Faith without works is dead” (James 2,14-17). \* \* \* The social aspect of faith should be manifested by reaching out to the needy, too. Some years ago I gave a recollection to a group of doctors in Antipolo. One of them, a member of the Knights of Columbus, related in the sharing that their family was selling a property which would necessitate the eviction of the caretaker and his family. Instead of ejecting the caretaker and family, they, who must have understood Christian charity, donated a small lot at the back where the caretaker could personally own. Imagine the joy of the poor caretaker and family who had lived there for many years. \* \* \* Another true example relates about a man who borrowed a considerable amount from a friend but could not pay on time. Obviously, the creditor got mad; but seeing the predicament of the poor debtor, he relented. Instead of shouting, insulting him in public, and threatening to have him jailed, he said, “I understand your condition but please pay.” Somehow, the debtor kept trying to pay the whole amount. The compassionate creditor was a church lay minister. \* \* \* Unfortunately, many lose sight of the social aspect of faith in the "breaking of the bread" (Holy Mass). Many, for instance, receive Communion in the hope of becoming holier, without stopping to analyze that "becoming holier" means becoming more kind, more honest, more approachable, more generous in sharing their time, treasure, and talent. \* \* \* The Eucharist is not a quick-fix ritual which works automatically. Yes, it works for us alright, but only if we translate what we pray at Mass into action.