Christ Has No Body But Yours July 17, 2011
Posted by Matt in Christianity, church.Tags: Christ's body, social justice, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Timothy's Episcopal Church
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I often dread Sunday morning services when my good friend and priest, Patrick, is out of town. It’s not that his substitute, who also happens to be named Patrick, is bad at what he does, not at all, but for some reason or another, it can be more difficult for me to get out the door in the morning when he is in place. I’m sure much of my hesitancy is due to the social factor, that I enjoy my friend’s presence both personally and in his official station, and I’m sure that’s understandable.
Nevertheless, I did attend services with the kids this morning (Diana stayed in and slept after a hard night at work) and, as often tends to happen, I was quite glad that I did.
At the end of service today, Patrick (the sub), said some closing words that I found to be incredibly profound and as the parishioners cleared out, I made sure to shake his hand and tell him so. He smiled and explained, “That was actually a poem written by St. Teresa of Avila in the 16th century.”
Being a former Church of Christer, the name meant little to me since we’re not generally down with the saints. I seemed to remember her being mentioned in a reading at some point in the past, but beyond that I was basically clueless. After a bit of basic research, I discovered that she was a Spanish mystic and writer, who experienced divine visions.
The words recited this morning went as follows:
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 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.
