 |
The Eucharist and Social Justice
We eat the body of Christ to become the body of Christ.
St. Augustine
What does the weekly act of going to mass and receiving the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist have to do with our social and personal lives? Most of us recognize its importance in our spiritual lives, and too often we are tempted to limit its relevance to that aspect of our being. It has been observed too often that although the Philippines is the only predominantly Catholic nation in Southeast Asia, majority of Filipinos continue to dwell below poverty level, our elections continue to be dirty and fraudulent, and crime rates continue to rise and threaten our security, among other grisly realities. According to Catholic Hierarchy (www.catholic-hierarchy.org), 78.2% of all Filipinos are Catholics, a significant number of which go to their parishes every Sunday to receive Holy Communion. However, reality would lead us to the bitter conclusion that we Filipino Catholics are not satisfactorily living out the morals of our faith, choosing instead to become mere nominal Catholics.
According to the Second Vatican Council, the Eucharist is "the source and summit of Christian life." It has a social dimension, one that challenges us to break down the walls of poverty and indifference in order to authenticate the love, peace, and unity that we profess in our Catholic faith. The apostle Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians admonishes those who partake of the Lord's Supper in disunity as dishonoring God. Clearly, when we tolerate discrimination and injustice among ourselves, we fail to act upon the social imperatives of the Eucharist. As in the Judeo-Christian tradition, justice is required for authentic worship.
Catholic social teaching provides certain principles to assist us in promoting justice: the dignity of the human person, the common good and community, option for the poor, rights and responsibilities, the role of government and subsidiarity, economic justice, stewardship of God's creation, promotion of peace and disarmament, participation, global solidarity and development. These principles will help us to build a civilization of love. However, we will only be able to act on them if we open our hearts to receive God's love through the Eucharist. According to John 13:35, love is the distinguishing mark of Christ's disciples. Furthermore, in the first letter of John, it is stated that "Love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action." The Eucharist nourishes us to build social relationships as well as our relationship with God.
Whenever we partake of the Lord's Supper, we do not do it as individuals. Rather, we join the whole Christian community in the remembrance of the Lord's sacrifice and the partaking of His Body and Blood. It reinforces the universal meaning of the word Catholic: all of us are called to share in God's table. We are not to live for ourselves, but for the good of others. The challenge for us, then, is to reach out to the poor, the marginalized sectors in society, and let them feel God's goodness and love through us. Every time we attend mass and receive the Body of Christ, let us commit ourselves to the promotion of justice in our parishes and communities, and ultimately, to the transformation of our nation, to become the living body of Christ, truly present in the world.
Sources:
The Year of the Eucharist
September: the Eucharist and Social Justice
By The Catholic Commission for Social Justice
http://www.archpos.org/v2.0/downloads/yrofeucharist/sep05.pdf
Catholic Hierarchy
Statistics by Country by Catholic Population
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/sc1.html
Good News Bible
|
|
