11-Apr-2014 Dear Friend,
Why Good Friday? It is good and necessary for us to contemplate Jesus on the cross in his agony and death to realize how much God loved us in Jesus. The cross without Jesus is meaningless, and the world's suffering is ununderstandable without Jesus. We need the cross to comprehend the problem of evil and its all-encompassing presence in the world today. We need Jesus on the cross to face our cross and to draw strength from Him. May we have an affirming Good Friday! -Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Good Friday - On the Cross we see the depth of His love! 18-Apr-2014 Readings: Isaiah 52: 13-53: 12; Hebrews 4: 14-16; 5: 7-9; John 18: 1-19:42; In today's first reading Isaiah paints a startling portrait of the suffering servant of Yahweh. This suffering servant has a dignity about himself and his spirit is intact and unbroken in the midst of all that he suffers. Physically he was abused and reduced to a subhuman condition: In the face of all that he suffered there is no bitterness, no anger, no resentment, no complaint. Isaiah, describing the suffering servant, gives us a model of how a Christian is called to respond to suffering. Jesus embraced the cross and transformed it into an expression of love for all human beings. The cross, the object of death can become the object of life for ourselves and others, if it is embraced with faith and with love. The Kiss I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face post-operative, her mouth twisted in palsy; clownish. A tiny twig of the facial muscles of her mouth, had been severed. She will be thus from now on. The surgeon had followed with religious fervour the curve of her flesh; I promise you that. Nevertheless, to remove the tumour from her cheek, I had cut the little nerve. Her husband was in the room. He stands on the opposite side of the bed, and together they seem to dwell in the evening lamplight, isolated from me, private. Who are they, I ask myself, he and this wry-mouth I have made, who gaze at and touch each other so generously, greedily? "Will my mouth always be like this?" she asks. "Yes," I say, "it will be. It is because the nerve was cut." She nods and is silent. But the young man smiles. "I like it," he says, "it is kind of cute." All at once I know who he is. I understand, and I lower my gaze. One is not bold in an encounter with a god. Unmindful he bends to kiss her crooked mouth, and I am so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate her, to show her that their kiss still works. Richard Selzer in 'Stories for the Heart' Today's Gospel is a gospel of paradox: it presents a mortal conflict between good and evil, a battle between the Prince of Peace and the prince of this world. Good Friday is a day of paradox because an instrument of death becomes the source of life. It is also a day of mystery because the sinless one became as sin; a day revealing mankind at its worst and God at His best. Jesus on the cross transforms the curse of the cross into an instrument of blessing and eternal life. In the Gospel there are several facets of the passion we could reflect upon: The agony in the garden and the fearless confrontation of Jesus with those who came to arrest him. The triple denial of Peter in the presence of a maid servant "You are not one of the man's disciples, are you?" He said "I am not." The trial and then his confrontation with Pilate "Are you the king of the Jews?", and the lingering unanswered question: "What is the truth?" We could meditate on the Way of the Cross and his final moments on the cross itself leading to his painful cry, echoed by all who suffer: "My God, my God why have you forsaken me." We could reflect on the first words of Jesus on the cross pleading for forgiveness for his people. Jesus becomes the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. He breaks the chain of violent response to injustice by offering forgiveness instead of vengeance. By accepting his passion and enduring his cross he earns redemption for all mankind. Forgiveness and reconciliation are offered to all who seek them. The glory and the power of the Cross Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong, once visited the Macao peninsula in the south Chinese coast, and was much impressed by the sight of a huge bronze cross towering on the summit of a massive wall. The wall and the cross were the only remains of a Cathedral built by the Portuguese, which was destroyed by a storm. This beautiful sight of the metal cross from the sea inspired him to write a hymn that made him more famous. He wrote: "In the cross of Christ I glory, Towering over the wreck of time, All the light and sacred story, Gathers round his head sublime." -Today, we are gathered around the mighty shadow cast by the Cross of Christ. The Cross towers over the wrecks of time and around it is gathered all the light of the sacred story. Hanging on the Cross, disowned and deserted by his friends, mocked by his foes, Jesus died a very lonely and excruciating death. What made Jesus court this lonely and excruciating death? It was His love. Jesus loved us so much that he stretched out his hands and died upon the Cross. This is the wonder of His glorious love. John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' Looking for forgiveness There is a Spanish tale of a father and son who had become estranged after years of bitter strife. The son finally ran away. Finding that his son was missing, the father became heartbroken and set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a desperate effort, the father placed an ad in the city newspaper. The ad read: Dear Paco, Meet me in front of the bell tower in the plaza at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father. That Saturday eight hundred Pacos -men and boys -showed up at the plaza looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers. Anonymous Life of Christ Archbishop Fulton Sheen was a great writer and orator. He had written more than fifty books. His most famous book is 'Life of Christ'. In the preface of this book, he gives the reason why he had written that book. He wrote: "Some books are written in answer to one's questions; other books are written to question answers already given. But this book is written to find consolation in the Cross of Christ. For about ten years I endured great trials, I plunged into the life of Christ and found strength, meaning and consolation in the Cross of Christ." John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' Beautiful in life and death Some things in life are too beautiful to be forgotten, but there can also be some things in death that are too beautiful to be forgotten. What can one say of a 24 year old girl who dies for others? She was beautiful, she was brilliant, she loved life and people. That was the reason she died. Her name was Mary Frances Houslay popularly known as Frankie. She worked as an air hostess for National Airlines. It was on January 14, 1951 that Frankie flew on a trip to Philadelphia, never to return again. Just as the giant wheels of the DC-4 touched the runway, it burst into flames. Frankie opened the emergency doors and tried to save as many as she could. She managed to save eleven people before she recalled seeing a four-year old baby in one of the rear seats. Her name was Brenda Joyce. Frankie dragged herself along and went in search of Brenda. As the flames reached the fuselage, the plane exploded! In the wreckage the rescuers found Brenda in the arms of Frankie. Brenda was alive but Frankie was dead. Elias Dias in 'Divine Stories for Families' The Tent of Refuge In the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, two Bedouin youth got into a fight, tumbling to the ground in their fury. One boy pulled out a knife, plunging it fatally into the other's chest. In fear he fled across the desert, fled from the slain boy's vengeance-seeking relatives, fled to find a Bedouin's sanctuary, a 'tent of refuge', designed by law for those who kill unintentionally or in the heat of anger. At last he reached what might be termed - the black-tented encampment of a nomad tribe. The boy flung himself at the feet of the leader, an aged sheik, and begged him: "I have killed in the heat of anger; I implore your protection. I seek the refuge of your tent." "If God wills," the old man responded, "I grant it to you, as long as you remain with us." A few days later the avenging relatives tracked the fugitive to the encampment. They described the assailant to the sheik and asked. "Have you seen this man? Is he here? For we ask for him." "He is here," said the sheik, "but you will not have him." "But he has killed and, we the blood relatives of the slain boy, will stone him according to the law." The sheik raised his voice, "You will not as long as he remains with us." "We demand him," the relatives declared. "No! The boy has my protection," said the sheik. "I have given my word, my promise of refuge." "But you don't understand," the relatives implored. "He killed your grandson!" The old man was silent. No one dared to speak. Then in visible anguish, with tears searing his face, the old man stood up and spoke ever so slowly, "My only grandson -is he dead?" "Yes, your only grandson is dead." "Then..." said the sheik, "then this boy will be my grandson. He is forgiven, and he will live with us as my own. Go now; it is finished." Walter J. Burghardt in 'Sower's Seeds of Christian Family Values' May we accept the Lord's merciful forgiveness generously offered to us! Fr. Jude Botelho [email protected] 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.
