26-Sep-2016 Dear Friend, We would all admit that we cannot live without faith, because every day we are called to believe. But the question we need to ask is: In whom or in what do we believe? Do we believe only in ourselves and in our capabilities? Do we believe in others? Do we believe in God? If we believe, can we put our lives totally in the hands of God? Have a ‘faith-full’ weekend celebrating the gift of faith! -Fr. Jude. Sun Ref. XXVII Sunday: The righteous shall live by faith! Increase our faith! 2-Oct-2016Habakkuk 1: 1-3; 2: 2-4; 2 Tim. 1: 6-8, 13-14; Luke 17: 5-10;
The Prophet Habakkuk, a contemporary of Jeremiah wants to know why God allows Israel to suffer at the hands of the unholy pagans. Why is it that sinners prosper while the just are made to suffer? – A question, that is relevant today as well! God’s answer that no power can overcome the faithful person is valid today as well. Habakkuk had the great event of the Exodus to remind him and the Israelites that God is the ‘rock’, He saves his people. All we have to do is trust and be faithful to him even when he appears to be silent. Mountain moving faithAn old woman regularly read the Bible before retiring at night. One day she came across the passage that said: “If you have faith as little as a mustard seed and ask the mountain to go away, it will go.” She decided to test the efficacy of the passage as there was a hillock behind her house. She commanded the hillock to go away from there and went to bed. In the morning she got up as usual and remembered her command to the hillock. She wore her spectacles and peered through the window. The hillock was there. Then she muttered to herself, “Ah! That’s what I thought.” - What she thought was that the mountain would not move. While her outer mind gave the command, her inner mind was convinced that she was giving a futile order. She did not have even an atom of faith!G. Francis Xavier in ‘The world’s best inspiring stories’ In today’s Gospel faith is connected with miracles, it is only in connection with miracles that Jesus mentions it, and it is generated and fostered by witnessing miracles, though the beneficiary has some faith already. Perhaps the clearest example of what is meant by faith is the miracle of the calming of the storm, when Jesus reproaches the disciples for their lack of faith. The attitude of the disciple must be a total commitment to God with certainty in his power to save. It is this unquestioning certainty which is being expressed in this somewhat absurd and exaggerated example of the mulberry tree. Immediately after this saying Luke adds the little parable of the servant who expects a reward for what he was expected to do, for what was his duty. Perhaps there is a warning that we should not expect light-hearted and irrelevant requests to be granted by God. Confidence in God’s power to save and even work miracles is one thing, but expectation of answers to prayers for trivial matter is flippant and unworthy. God is not our servant and after all that we do we have to consider ourselves unworthy servants waiting on his bounty and not deserving anything by right. For the man of faith, everything is a gift and never a matter of self acquisition. We earn nothing from God. Be careful in whom you place your trust!Before modern radio and television became so sophisticated, a telephone operator used to get a call every afternoon asking for the correct time. She was always able to give this information with great confidence. The reason for this was that she always checked her watch, and adjusted it when needed, when the whistle blew for the closing time in the local factory. One day her watch stopped. The telephone rang inquiring for the correct time. She explained her predicament. Her watch had stopped, and she had no way of ascertaining the correct time until the factory whistle sounded some time later. The caller then explained his predicament. He was calling today, as he had done every other day, from the same local factory, and he had always adjusted his clock, when necessary, to agree with whatever time it was in the telephone exchange. –Be careful in whom you place your trust!Jack McArdle in ‘And that’s the Gospel truth’ Pavarotti: My Own StoryNot since the legendary Caruso has another opera personality had such charisma as tenor Luciano Pavarotti. In his autobiography, Pavarotti: My Own Story, he describes how he was trained by a great master, Arrigo Pola. “Everything Pola asked me to do, I did, –day after day, blindly. For six months we did nothing but vocalize and work on vowels.” Pavarotti worked hard under Pola for two and a half years and then worked just as hard under Maestro Ettore Campogalliani for another five years. Finally after putting so much faith and trust in his mentors, Pavarotti made a breakthrough at a concert in Salsomaggiore where he thrilled the audience and was catapulted into fame. This story about faith and trust leads us in to today’s readings which focus on the same themes. As Luciano Pavarotti put his trust in his master teacher, we too must put our trust in our mentor Jesus Christ.Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ Accusing GodThe year is 1965. The Jewish writer Elie Wiesel, who survived Auschwitz concentration camp as a boy, is attending the service. His eyes are fixed on the old rabbi who is praying and sighing as though in a trance. Wiesel has a mad thought that the rabbi will shake himself, pound the pulpit, and cry out his pain, his truth. In his heart he addresses the rabbi: ‘Do something, say something, free yourself tonight and you will enter our people’s legend; let the hushed reality buried inside you for so many years explode; speak out, say what oppresses you – one cry, just one, will be enough to bring down the walls that encircle and crush you’. My eyes pleaded with him, prodded him. In vain. For him it was too late. He had suffered too much, endured too many ordeals for too many years. He no longer had the strength to imagine himself free. So nothing happened. Nothing interrupted the rhythm of the solemn service. Wiesel was hoping that the old rabbi would find a voice to express suffering that he would name the anguish that fidelity to God can bring. Suffering can deaden boldness of spirit; but it can also give the sufferer a liberating madness to become God’s accuser. And Judaism has given us a tradition of boldness in dealing with God. It is the boldness of faith which dares to scream at God.Denis McBride in ‘Seasons of the Heart’ Remaking life through faithNorman Vincent Peale relates the pathetic fall and the rise of a Chinese Christian, who remade his life through faith. A Chinese gentleman, who was a successful broker came to a prayer meeting and shared his life-story with a group of Christians. He came from a wealthy family and had every opportunity that wealth and social connections could afford. He lost his wife through his wasteful living and his money, through gambling. His health failed and a nervous breakdown made him unfit for any, but limited work. At this juncture he met some Christians whose joy and delight in life amazed him. It awakened in him a hope that there may be a way out of his sad failure. They told him that the way was by faith. He had neither faith in God nor in himself. He was desperately determined to overcome his failure. And he knew the only way was through faith. He charted out a daily plan of communion with God. Initially, perseverance was difficult because of his nervous state. But he desperately kept at it, for it was his only hope. For thirty minutes each day, he gave himself to meditation. As a result of this practice, he overcame his disability. Once again his mind began to function with its old-time efficiency. His faith in God remade his entire life, including his health, happiness and business.John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’ Faith is a jump!A man who loved the Lord was going through deep and discouraging trials and his confidence was near breaking-point. One day he went for a walk in the orchard with his little son. The boy wanted to climb an old apple tree, so the father patiently stood below watching him as he ascended. Many of the limbs were dead and some of them began to break under the youngster’s weight. Seeing his son’s plight, the man held up his arms and called, “Jump son, I’ll catch you.” The boy still clung on, then he said, “Shall I let go of everything, Daddy?” “Yes” came the reassuring reply. Without any hesitation the boy jumped and was safely caught in his father’s arms. That is faith!Vima Dasan in ‘His Word Lives’ May we work as though all depends on us and trust knowing it all depends on Him! 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.
