Scripture:
Reflection:
There is a prayer of St. Theresa of Avila that is perfect for our gospel today: “Now Christ has no body on earth but yours; now Christ has no hands here on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which his compassion looks out on the world; yours are the feet which carry him now on his way; yours are the hands which touch his people today.” We can take this prayer to heart and bring it to life day after day because of what Jesus promised in today’s gospel: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these…”
There is no better way to live, and no nobler purpose to embrace, than to be the hands, eyes, feet, and heart of Christ in our world today. The world needs the unshakable hope, it needs the resilient compassion and unflinching mercy, and it desperately needs the darkness-shattering light that flows from us when we allow Jesus to live and minister through us. That is no small thing in a world that is broken, afflicted, anxious, fearful, drenched in pain and flirting with despair. Acts of mercy, justice, compassion, truthfulness, forgiveness, faith, hope, and unconditional love, no matter how small, are all re-creations, all fresh new starts, all unexpected eruptions of Easter life when the power of the resurrected Christ lives in us and works through us, constantly healing, liberating, and making all things whole.
In today’s first reading from Acts, Paul and Barnabas confirm their mission to the Gentiles by declaring: “For so the Lord has commanded us, I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.” What would change for us and for others if we began each day by praying, “How am I called to be an instrument of salvation today?” If we did, wouldn’t we be living proof of Jesus’ promise that “whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these”? It’s at least worth a try.
Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology & Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province.