“The real follower of Christ sees Christ in every person
he meets.” This is a statement from a
Meditation for Spiritual Growth published in the Vatican II Weekday Missal. For
me is the real challenge of Christianity.
The Christian
Faith tells us that Christ is the Savior of the World, for through His Passion, Death and
Resurrection He has provided the Grace of Redemption for all men, rich or poor,
sinner or saint. Hence, in every man He
is present with His redeeming love. With
this presence He is extending to every man the Grace of Redemption. Hence, when I meet a person I should see him
as someone whom Christ loves and thus Christ would expect me to manifest His
love for him, for He said: “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it
to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me”
(Matt.25:40)
Everyday I meet people from all walks of life. It is, indeed, a challenge for me to act
towards each one of them as Christ Himself would do. For instance, when I ride in a tricycle, I am
challenged to pay the driver in a manner that Christ would do, not based of
what is just but on how Christ’s love
would be manifested.
How to manifest Christ’s love to every person I meet is
then the question that comes to me in my daily life. At the end of the day I would review how I
related to people I met and ask myself: “Have I manifested Christ’s love for
them in what I have done?”
When I participated in a PREX Seminar way back in January
of 1994 the commitment I made in order to become a better Catholic was: TO SEE
THE FACE OF CHRIST IN EVERY PERSON I MEET.
Since then I have been trying to put this into practice. I must confess, however, that, indeed, it is
a tall order. Many times I have been
confronted on how to manifest love to people who have hurt me. In general, however, the big question is how
to deal with persons whose acquaintance is temporary. In most cases all I can get to know is their
name. It seems physically impossible to
manifest love to everyone who comes my
way. Hence, I believe that this
challenge to love has to be applied in situations wherein one is in a position
to help or serve.
Hence, seeing Christ in people I meet means being ready
to be of service to everyone if and when needed. As Christ has shown, love is manifested in
service.
by: Buddy Cagurangan
August 25, 2013
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