27-Apr-2015 Dear Friend, Our natural instinct is the spirit of self-preservation. If we live purely natural lives we would only be thinking of ‘I, me and myself’ alone. The culture that we live in tends to celebrate individualism rather than community life. At the same time we yearn to belong and feel part of a community. Easter reminds us that we are called to belong and live together. When we love we are ready to ‘hang out’ for a long time together. We cannot live our faith and journey to God single-handedly. Perhaps we need to learn how to ‘hang out’ with Jesus! May His Word challenge us. Have a bonding weekend! –Fr. Jude Sunday Ref. 5th Sun. of Easter “Called to be united to God, expressed in love for others!” 03-May-2015 Acts 9: 26-31; 1John. 3: 18-24; John 15: 1-8;
Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that Paul after his conversion decided to go to Jerusalem and tried to be united to the Christian community there. But the community had heard of Paul’s reputation as a persecutor of the Christians and being afraid of him refused to associate with him. Finally it was left to Barnabas, who was a kind, forgiving and encouraging person, to bring Paul into the community. He pleads Paul’s case, telling his brethren that Paul has met the Lord and that he is no more the person he once was. Paul knows that value of being united with the mother Church and several times in his life he will journey to Jerusalem. Relationships are a gift and not merely an acquisition, and this is even more so with the Lord. It is God who takes the initiative to be one with us and nothing that we do can merit a relationship with him. Not connected!A missionary in Africa lived in his central mission, which had a small electric plant to supply current for his church and small rectory. Some natives from the outlying mission came to visit the padre. They noticed the electric light hanging from the ceiling of his living room. They watched wide-eyed as he turned on the little switch and the light came on. One of the visitors asked if he could have one of those bulbs. The priest thinking he wanted it as a sort of trinket gave him a burned-out bulb. On his next visit to the outlying mission, the priest stopped at the hut of the man who had asked for the bulb. Imagine the priest’s surprise when he saw the bulb hanging from an ordinary string! He had to explain that one had to have electricity power and a wire to bring the current to the bulb. Without a connection there is no power!Msgr. Arthur Tonne In the Gospel of John we hear Jesus speaking of this same unity and intimacy, which should be part of our relationship with Jesus and with his Church. He illustrates this with a very earthy metaphor. “I am the true vine and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear even more fruit.” Firstly, we are reminded that the Father is the vine grower. He is the source of life for Jesus and his Church and in the measure we are united with Jesus in that measure we live and grow. No branch can selfishly seek its own good, independent of others. Usually such a branch turns out to be a parasite or sucker, which must be effectively trimmed away. Pruning can be painful, for in the life of the Church; it can mean cutting back on activities and programmes, though good in themselves, which the entire vine cannot sustain. The new growth may be healthy yet preventing fruit from forming on the vine. We all need pruning: correction, direction, discipline so that our lives may be fruitful in His service. This pruning is especially necessary for those who have been successful in their actions. Some experts say that for every hundred people that can handle adversity, there is only one who can handle success. Lest we become proud, to bear abundant fruit we need pruning and trimming to be cut down to size. Only the humble can bear fruit in Christ. Jesus’ secret was his contact with God; ours is contact with God through Jesus. This means dependence. We are dependent on God for everything, right up to life itself. The Easter season celebrates the abiding presence of the risen Christ. Many believers are doers, actors, and we like to quickly translate gospel vision into deeds. The gospel challenges us to stop, to ‘abide’ with Jesus, to realize God’s presence. Are we united? I’m the centre!There was this article about a fondly remembered comic strip ‘Archie.’ The article is about a television show that offers an updated version of the comic strip. In the show, Archie and his friends –Veronica, Reggie, and Jughead return as adults to Riverdale. There have been some changes. Archie is no longer a fine wholesome guy. He’s been talked into the yuppie, consumerist mainstream by his fiancée. Veronica has had at least four or five marriages and is now hunting Archie, trying to get him into bed with her. In the script is this dialogue: “But I have a fiancée,” says Archie, trying to back off Veronica. “Don’t worry, Veronica says unmoved, “I’ve had thirteen.” Jughead is a divorced psychiatrist trying to raise his alienated son, and Reggie is a money-crazed owner of a health club. Times have changed! Archie and his friends are no longer a community. They are examples of our culture of individualism. “I do my thing: run through spouses, children, jobs, relationships. They are all temporary. I’m the one who counts. The world revolves around me. I’m the centre!” ………Or are we the centre?William J. Bausch “I loved those boys!”A college professor had his sociology class go into the Baltimore slums to get case histories of 200 young boys. They were asked to write an evaluation of each boy’s future. In every case the students wrote “He does not have a chance.” Twenty-five years later another sociology professor came across the earlier study. He had his students follow up on the project to see what had happened to these boys. With the exception of twenty boys who had moved away or died, the students learned that 176 of the remaining 180 had achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers, doctors and businessmen. The astounded professor decided to pursue the matter further. Fortunately, all the men were in the area, and he was able to ask each, “How do you account for your success?” In each case the reply came with feeling, “There was a teacher.” The teacher was still alive, so he sought her out and asked the old but still alert lady what magic formula she had used. Her eyes sparkled and her lips broke into a gentle smile. “It is really simple,” she said. “I loved those boys.”Harold Buetow in ‘God Still Speaks: Listen’ United in His nameThe lunar module ‘Eagle’ carrying astronauts Aldrin and Armstrong, landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. While Armstrong prepared for his moon walk, Aldrin unpacked bread and wine and put them on the abort system computer. He described what he did next. “I poured the wine into a chalice…In the one-sixth gravity of the moon the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon and the very first food eaten, were communion elements.” Just before eating and drinking the elements, Aldrin read the passage from the gospel according to John: “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him will bear much fruit, for you can do nothing without me.” Commenting on his communion experience on the moon, Aldrin says, “I sense especially strongly my unity with our church back home, and everywhere.”Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’ Being His channel of goodnessThere is a legend of a saint whose wonderful deeds astonished the angels and they came to learn the secret of his piety. Everywhere the man went he diffused virtue as a flower gives out perfume, without being aware of it. The angels asked that the man be given the gift of miracles, and God consented. They asked the man if he would like by the touch of his hand to heal the sick. “No,” he replied, “I would rather that God should do that.” “Then would you like to convert guilty souls and bring them back to the right path?” “No,” said the saint. “It is the Spirit’s mission to convert, I only pray.” “Would you rather be a model of patience and draw men by your piety?” “No, if men are attracted to me, they might be estranged from God.” “What do you desire?” said the angels. “That God should give me his grace, that I might do a great deal of good without knowing it.” The angels were perplexed. Finally they resolved that whenever the shadow of the saint fell where he could not see it, the shadow could cure disease and comfort sorrow. So it came to pass, as the saint passed along, the hearts of men were cheered wherever he walked.Anthony B. Castle in ‘More Quotes and Anecdotes’ United with ChristJ.C. Penny Stores is the largest chain of dry goods stores in the world. There are more than sixteen hundred of them in every state of the United States. Mr. J.C. Penny, the owner of these stores had a very serious mid-life crisis. He was beset with fatal worries. He was so harassed with worries that he couldn’t sleep and he developed an extremely painful ailment called the shingles – a red rash and skin eruptions. His doctor put him to bed and warned him that he was a very sick man. A rigid treatment was prescribed. But nothing helped. He grew weaker day by day. He was physically and nervously broken, filled with despair. One night the doctor gave him a sedative, but its effects wore off soon, and he awoke with an overwhelming sense of his death. Getting out of his bed, he began to write farewell letters to his wife and to his son saying that he did not expect to see the dawn. When he awoke the next morning, he was surprised to find himself alive. Going downstairs, he heard singing in a little chapel where devotional exercises were held each morning. He heard them singing the beautiful hymn: ‘God will take care of you’. He went to the chapel and listened with a weary heart to the singing, the reading of the Scripture lesson and prayer. Suddenly, something happened which were beyond any explanation. He called it a miracle. In his own words, he said, “I felt as if I was instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into warm, brilliant sunlight. I felt as if I was transported from hell to paradise. I felt the power of God as I had never felt before. I realized then that I alone was responsible for all my troubles. I knew that God with His love was there to help me. From that day to this, my life has been free from worry. I am seventy-one years old, and the most dramatic and glorious twenty minutes of my life were those I spent in that chapel that morning: ‘God will take care of you.’”John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’ May we discover that when God is taking care of us, nothing can stop us! Fr. Jude [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.
