20-Aug-2006
Dear Friend,
All of us are constantly faced with choices that we have to make. Some
choices are easy and have no serious consequences, others are life-changing and
we agonize over them. Is my faith my choice, or is it something that is of no
consequence? Perhaps there will come a moment when we will have to ratify our
choice of God and accept the consequences. Have a weekend confirming your
choice of God! Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: Twenty-first Sunday of the Year A choice for or against
Christ! 27-Aug-2006
Readings: Joshua 24:1-2;15-18; Ephesians 5:21-32; John
6:60-69;
In todays first reading from the Book of Joshua, Joshua, an old man at the
end of his life, calls all the elders, leaders, judges and scribes of Israel to
listen to his farewell address. He does not recall his military successes, nor
does he ask the people to cherish what he has done for them. Instead he asks
the people to choose whom they wish to serve: the God of their ancestors or the
false gods of the land they now inhabit. He wants to be remembered not as the
commander who brought his people to the Promised Land but as prophet who led
the people to choose God again. Joshua knows that all choices have to be
renewed. The last battle Joshua wins is when his people choose to be faithful
to God; a victory of fidelity.
Is my faith mine?
A so-called born Catholic woke up one day and got a shock. It suddenly
dawned on him that he was not a volunteer but a conscript. I dont know what
triggered off his line of thought in him. But for the first time in his life he
realized that everything relating to the faith had been given to him. It was
all second-hand, like clothes handed down to him from an older brother. He had
been baptized as a baby, and naturally had no memory of it. All the way through
his growing years, religion had been imposed on him by his parents and by
church and school authorities. Not that he had resisted this or even resented
it to any degree. But now that he was a young adult it suddenly hit him. He had
accepted it all unthinkingly. He had never made the faith his own. But what
bothered him most was the fact that he had never been consulted about it. He
had never been offered the opportunity to make a personal choice about his
faith. It was not a happy moment for him. In fact, it was a
very disturbing moment. Of course, he soon realized that the faith was not the
only thing he had inherited. Most of what he was, of what constituted his
identity, was not his either his name, his family, his nationality. But faith
was the thing that worried him most. He had not owned the faith. He began to
wonder if he had any convictions at all about it. What, if anything, did it
mean to him? Would his life be any poorer without it? These were questions he
had never asked himself before.
Flor McCarthy, in 'New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies'
In the second reading Paul uses the image of a marriage relationship to
express the bond that exists between Christ and the church. Paul is using the
image of marriage to describe the relationship that should exist among
believers. The norm of every relationship is love, mutual respect, service and
recognition of the equal dignity of each member of Christ. Our choices should
be guided by this high ideal.
In todays gospel the choice that Joshua offered his people is echoed when we
find Jesus offering his own followers the choice to stay with him or to join
the ranks of unbelievers. After hearing Jesus teaching on the bread of life,
many of his followers express their confusion and doubts. They find Jesus
language too tough. Many of them do choose to leave him. Then as Joshua had
spoken to his followers Jesus spoke to the twelve apostles and gave them the
option of parting company or staying with him. The disciples could not reject
the Lord after all that he had done for them. Peter their spokesman asks Jesus
how they could turn to anyone else for the message of eternal life. The
apostles exercise their freedom of choice by choosing to stay with him.
Will you also go away?
And what about you, do you want to go away too? A pathetic question which
impels us to take a stand for or against Jesus; are we going to join the ranks
of the incredulous, or join instead the group of the twelve with Peter? Lord,
who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life. The flickering
quality of faith, the decision, is never absolutely settled once and for all.
Rather, we undertake to follow the way of Christ, fortified by the bread he
gives and relying on him alone. What Christian, if he strives to be a believer,
will not suffer every day because of the guilt that exists between his
profession of faith and his living out of that faith in his life? But this very
fragility of faith has the value of an appeal: it is a cry that the Father
listens to with particular attention every time he makes us the gift of the
very life of his Son in the Eucharist, so that we may run together the risk of
love. Glenstal Missal
This very option or possibility of choosing for or against Jesus is repeated
over and over again in the modern age. Are the teachings of Jesus too
idealistic to be practiced? Are they too challenging, too risky to be put into
action?
Can you imagine some of the following scenes taking place today?
.a
neighbourhood gang is planning revenge for an ugly incident. Jesus the social
worker, walks to the clubhouse and speaks: I say to you, love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you. One kid retorts immediately, Hey man, how
can any man take that seriously?
. At a board meeting of an international
conglomerate, a new member named Jesus responds to a proposal about a scheme
to make windfall profits in Third World country, Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume
. For where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also. Sir, replies the chairman of the board, this
sort of talk is hard to endure
.. besides, you are out of order.
a team of
network TV programmers is meeting to decide on the fall show. The new staff
person, Jesus critiques several of the offerings with, Everyone who presents a
woman for lustful purposes on prime time has
already committed adultery in his heart. One experienced program director
grimaces: How can anybody take that seriously? Besides, it wouldnt get us
more than a 6 percent share of the viewing audience. Hard sayings, all of
these should anyone take them seriously? Only if one wishes to lead the
fullest divine-human life. Eugene Lauer
Lady Sings the Blues
The movie Lady Sings the Blues tells the story of singer Billie Holliday. To
play the role of Billie Holliday, singer Diana Ross spent almost nine months
reading clippings of Billie, sifting through pictures of her and listening over
and over again to her recorded songs. Diana Ross also researched Billies era
of fame, the 1930s and 1940s, and the drug addiction that tragically ended
her career. Diana Ross motion picture debut in Lady Sings the Blues was a huge
success, not only because of the powerful story it told about Billie Holliday,
but also because of Diana Ross commitment to honour a singer she admired so
much. - Commitment is one of the subjects of todays readings. Diana Ross made
a commitment to honour Billie Holliday in the movie Lady Sings the Blues, and
so she did all the hard work necessary to live up to that commitment. Joshua in
the Old Testament and the apostles in the New Testament made a commitment to
follow the Lord, and so they were ready to make
the sacrifices necessary to carry out their promises.
Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds
May I take a stand for Jesus and accept the consequences!
Fr. Jude Botelho
www.netforlife.net
PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been
collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and
from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever
possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you
could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in
these reflections. These reflections are also available on my web site
www.netforlife.net Thank you.
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