As we enter another week of the COVID -19 pandemic, the numbers can be overwhelming – the number of people infected, the number of those who died, the number of unemployed people, the number of people needing emergency assistance including food, medicine, utility bills, rent, etc. How can we even begin to mentally and spiritually process the needs and suffering of the millions of people who fall into the categories just mentioned? There is no easy answer, but I want to share an image called “Christ of the Breadlines” by the artist Fritz Eichenberg.
For many years, the artist was a friend of Dorothy Day who worked among poor and homeless people in New York city and who was a founder of the Catholic Worker movement. Fritz Eichenberg created many illustrations and wood engravings featured in the Catholic Worker Newspaper. Many years ago, a friend gave me a print of this image, and it is among the items that I display in the space where I have my prayer time. It reminds me of the sacred worth of each person and of Jesus’ presence especially among those who are suffering. In a book of some of Fritz Eichenberg’s collected works entitled Works of Mercy, the artist includes the following quote by Dorothy Day:
It is most surely an exercise of faith for us to see Christ in each other. But it is through such exercise that we grow and the joy of our vocation assures us we are on the right path. The mystery of the poor is this: That they are Jesus, and what you do for them you do for Him.
Below the image, I posted a short video that is just one sample among many of the overwhelming needs facing millions of people today. May we see Jesus in the long lines of people standing or waiting in cars to receive a little help with their “daily bread.” May we also see Jesus in those who are serving at food banks, community centers, and medical facilities throughout our country and the world. The living Jesus is with us both through the Holy Spirit and in the form of our sisters and brothers.
