Christ ministers to Himself for the glory of His Name

As I read the handbook in preparation for this meeting, I kept being reminded of stories about hungry people. What stirred my memories? The quote from St. Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney, "The world belongs to Him, Who loves it most." It is a compelling argument. God loves the world profoundly as the Gospel of John clearly teaches us. Satan, on the other hand, does not love the world in the least. He hates human beings with a depth of hatred that is unimaginable to us.

But God's love for the world has to be proven to each and every human being. That is often a tall order. That is where the stories about hungry people come in. The first one is very old. It dates to the late 3rd Christian century, the 200's in other words. At this time, the Roman Empire was beginning to fall apart. There was great stress on the borders of the Empire, as barbarian peoples pressed against the frontiers, driven from there traditional lands by peoples behind them. The Empire was extremely anxious to raise a maximum number of troops to defend the frontiers. There was just one catch: the imperial administration couldn't pay the conscripted soldiers, or, at least, couldn't pay them consistently. A young man, a pagan from the province of Egypt was conscripted into the imperial army. He served for a time, but soon staying with the army became untenable, because there was no pay and, therefore, nothing to live on. So, the young man did what thousands of others did. He deserted his post and headed for home. But, unlike so many others, he was captured and sentenced to death. In the meantime, before his execution was to be carried out, the young man was housed along with a great many other deserters in a corral out in the desert. Neither food nor water was ever brought to them. Why waste the effort? They were going to be executed anyway. But, during the night, strange people would come out of the desert and appear along the fence line. They brought food and water to the thirsty and hungry men, calling them "brothers." The young man asked some of the other deserters about these people. The others replied, "They're Christians. They're totally cuckoo. Normally, to be avoided at all cost." The young man was intrigued by these people, who risked their own lives to do good to people they did not even know. When the emperor died unexpectedly, all the death sentences became null and void. The young man went free, but was lead by the Holy Spirit to look into the Christian faith. He converted to Christianity and became the founder of the first monasteries in Upper Egypt.

The second story is similar and yet different. In Spain, about a thousand years after that young man in Upper Egypt converted to Christianity, the Christian people themselves were in serious trouble. The armies of Islam had invaded a greater part of their country. A small village near the modern city of Madrid fell to the Muslims and the people of the town were kept as slaves. The male slaves in particular were singled out for hard work and slow starvation. The slaves were not fed by their captors. However, the Muslim governor of the region did permit the captives to be supported by family members, provided that any deliveries of supplies were carried out by children under the age of twelve. This was helpful to the men who had small children. Many of these men survived and were eventually ransomed. But the clemency policy was no help at all to the unmarried men and those who had no children. In answer to earnest prayers on the part of these men and their families, a little unknown child began to appear every evening, bringing water and bread to the men who had no other support. It was later discovered by miraculous means that the child was, in fact, the Infant Jesus Himself. From then on, the same Child appeared often in answer to seemingly hopeless prayers. Often, He would bring help to those who had no earthly support and remain with them until they had passed out of harm's way. Thus, He showed a group of frightened women how to escape from their Muslim captors, showing them the right road by which to travel undetected back to Christian territory. In a similar way, He appeared again to show a large group of trapped miners the way out of a mine that had collapsed.

In the first story, the totally whacko Christians, the fringe weirdos of the society at the time, appeared at the fence line of the deserters' prison, because they believed that Christ was the one detained there. Nevertheless, through their ministry, the young man Pachomius experienced the love of Christ. In the second story, by contrast, a humiliated and embattled Christian people received help from Christ Himself in the form of a little Child.

These two stories, taken together, show us the true nature of Christian works of mercy. To us, in us and through us, Christ ministers to Himself for the glory of His name. When we go to others in need, they are Christ to us. It is Christ Whom we serve. At the same time, we are Christ to them, because they experience a foretaste of Christ's salvation through us. Every time we serve others, we are mystically served as God is not outdone in His generosity, but allows His grace to pour forth from those we serve.