Who Is Jesus? (StVdP)

Who is Jesus?

Reflection for St. Vincent de Paul Meeting, February 22, 2016

Dcn. Bob Bonomi

In today’s Gospel passage from Matthew, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  The initial replies are almost superstitious in their nature and smack of reincarnation:  “Elijah.”  “John the Baptist.”  “Jeremiah.”  Then Jesus asks an even more important question: “But who do YOU say that I am?”

Peter’s response reflects a more theological, Christological approach to the question. Not an echo of a past persona but something new, something promised and yet previously unfulfilled. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  And Jesus blesses him for his insight.

But there is much more to Jesus than meets the eye, and in Jesus’ own words about himself we find a better reply to the question of who Jesus is today: 

·         From Matthew 15:35-36 on the parable of the sheep and the goats: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”

·         From Acts of the Apostles 5:9:  He said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Jesus is still with us, walking with us, living with us.  Vincentians encounter Jesus every day in their ministry to those who are in need.

But there is one more response to the question, “Who am I?”  St. Teresa of Avila, in her poem, “Christ Has No Body”, states:

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

When we reach out with compassion to those in need – the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned, the hated, the injured, the doubtful, the despairing, the sad and lonely, the inconsolable, the misunderstood, the unloved – we are more than just Vincentians.

WE are Jesus.