I have always been taken by the Word Namaste. There are several translations of the word, but my favorite is, ‘the God in me greets the God in you’. As I prepared for a retreat centered on the Feast of Corpus Christi, I began to reflect on its meaning.
Corpus Christi is about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Although we can sit for hours before the Blessed Sacrament, how do we take that prayer, the belief in the real presence of Jesus, out into the world, to our home, workplace, schools, etc.? We need to become the body of Christ today, His hands and feet and heart. Therefore, when we say Namaste, we would truly be saying ‘the God in me greets the God in you’. The story is told that Mother Teresa would teach her sisters not only to genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament but also before each sister, reverencing the God who dwells within them. Our Foundress, Frances Siedliska, truly believed this when she placed on our crosses “Ecce Regnum Dei, intra Vos est…Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.”
Ah, but do we truly believe that? Do we try to see God in each other? Do I believe that God is truly living within me when I receive Communion? We can take things for granted and operate on autopilot. We need to become more like Jesus each time we receive the Eucharist. Sometimes I joke and say, “Jesus, if receiving you helps me become more like you, we still have a lot of work to do!” What about you? Are you recognizing that the more you receive Jesus, the more you are becoming like him?
I was talking to a friend who was presenting on negotiating. I shared my word with her and said, “IF we greet each other with that image in mind, all negotiating would be a lot easier.” We would LISTEN to the other person, and HEAR what they are saying, without focusing on preparing our response. Imagine that! Imagine if we greeted each other, recognizing the living, breathing Corpus Christi! I think our families, workplaces, cities, churches, and the world would be very different places.
My challenge for this week is for us to recognize the presence of God in the other and treat them as the Body of Christ. NAMASTE, MY FRIENDS. Let us reverence one another.
Till next week,
Sister Theresita
