‘”Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Cor.12:12)
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 3:20)
THEOLOGY: We are one human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic and ideological differences. Violent conflict and the denial of dignity and rights to people any where on the globe diminishes each of us.
Solidarity is the contemporary expression of the traditional Catholic image of the Body of Christ. It is at the core of the Church’s concern for world peace, global development, care for the environment and international human rights. Each of us has the common identity as a child of God; thus, we are one human family responsible for our brothers and sisters. The Eucha- rist is the sign and reality of this truth.
SALESIAN PRINCIPLE: Life hidden in the heart
To Live Jesus is to have the name of Jesus engraved on one’s heart. It is to allow that name to become one’s own true name, to allow one’s entire self to be animated by the reality of the person known by that name. This does not mean just praying to Jesus or even imitating Jesus. It is a question of surrendering the vital center of one’s being. The Pauline dictum, “I no longer live but Christ lives in me.” is at the core of the distinctive Salesian spirituality: Jesus is a presence to be experienced, a reality to be lived.
Francis de Sales shows us by his life how to be in solidarity with the rich and powerful as well as the poor and insignificant. Our hidden life is the life of union with God which we share with everyone.
REFLECTIONS
- How does the Eucharist change and inspire me to be a person of solidarity or a person of forgiveness?
- How can I be in solidarity with the poor in my community? How can I be in solidarity with the rich and powerful in my community?
- How can I be in solidarity with the poor throughout the world? How can I be in solidarity with the rich and powerful throughout the world?
- How can I be in solidarity with my enemies?
- With whom do I find it most difficult to be in solidarit
- How does the commandment to love our neighbor challenge us to consider the poor and downtrodden of all nations as true brothers and sisters?
- For Jesus, peace is not defined as merely the absence of trouble; rather, it includes everything that builds up a person. How does Jesus’ peace differ from the world’s assumptions about peace?
- How are these words of Paul’s manifested in me: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me’?