28-Nov-2016 Dear Friend, There are moments in our lives when we are forced to return to basics- to ask fundamental questions: “Where am I going? Am I in the right place? Am I doing what I am supposed to do with my life? Am I really happy? Am I prepared for…” These basic questions can be disturbing and we tend to brush them off. Advent confronts us with these questions: “If not now? When?” “If not here? Where?” “If not you? Who?” Have a soul-searching weekend! –Fr. Jude Sun Ref. 2nd Sun. of Advent: ‘His coming will bring justice and peace for all!’ 4-Dec-2016Isaiah. 11:1-10; Rom. 15: 4-9; Matt. 3: 1-12;
In the first reading from Isaiah we have a beautiful poem of Messianic hope written in a time of war and hopelessness. Isaiah yearns for the coming of a just king of the house of David who will usher the longed-for change for his people. When this text of Isaiah was written during the eight century BC, the lion symbolized fear; this animal was the scourge of Palestine. The lion’s transformation to s peaceful bovine imaged the kingdom of God, a world totally gentled, a world in which a child can guide. The spirit-filled king has come, bringing justice to all creation. Change your thinking! Change yourself!Once upon a time there was a king, who ruled a prosperous country. One day he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he came back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very sore, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the country with leather. Definitely this would need skins of thousands of animals, and would cost a huge amount of money. Then one of his wise advisors dared to question the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don’t you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?” The king was surprised, but later agreed to his suggestion to make a ‘shoe’ for himself. – We often say, “I wish things would change or people would change.” Instead wise people say: “Change your thinking and change your world!”John Pichappilly in “The Table of the Word” We see coming from the desert one who will point the way to final glory. He is the one who marks the end of the time of waiting and the beginning of the new age of Jesus. He is the last of the great prophets. The long line of prophetic witness had been broken and the people lamented that the spirit had been silenced. In John the Baptist the people could see an end to God’s silence. Through John they could hear the word of God. God’s word came again through the wilderness, the traditional place associated with the growth of Israel’s religion. John is a voice speaking in the wilderness and the people came to the wilderness to hear God’s word. His message is blunt and to the point. There is only one way to prepare the way: ‘Repent!’ John the Baptist envisions ‘Metanoia’ a conversion experience, a radical turning to God coupled with inner renewal. Those moved by his call confess their sins and are baptized by John. In their baptisms the people make a public profession to begin to change their lives. John calls everyone to change. John is blunt and forthright. Their pedigree, their good ancestry means nothing. Roots refer to the past, fruits speak of the health of the tree now. John calls the whole of Israel without exception to a change of heart. That call is addressed to us as well here and now. Hearing it and acting on it –this is the best preparation for the one who is to come. Facilitating God’s ComingA monk was passing through a dangerous and deserted highway. He came across a wounded man with high fever lying helplessly on the roadside. The monk took compassion on him and began to take care of him. He cleaned his wounds and tied them with medicinal leaves; he shared his food with him and spent the night taking care of him. The following morning the man was a little better and he was able to proceed on his own. When the monk was about to take leave, the stranger turned towards the monk and said to him, “Sir, you do not know who I am, neither my name, nor my race or caste or language, yet you bound my wounds, shared your food and spent the night taking care of me. Tell me, what made you do all these things for me?” Then the monk replied, “The Lord who created me said, ‘What you do to the least of your brethren, you do it for me.’ You are my brother. What I had done to you, I had done it to my Lord.” Then the man said, “Sir who is your God? If your God makes you do all these things to a stranger, then I need that God. Give your God to me.” The monk paved the way for God in that man’s life. It is said that a saint is one who makes it easy for others to believe in God. “Prepare the way for God….”John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’ Word PowerThe Greatest is a film about Muhammad Ali’s career as heavyweight boxing champion. It shows not only how he was gifted naturally with agility and strength, but also how he trained extensively with rigorous workouts and diets. But Muhammad Ali said one time that although all these things helped, the real secret of his power source was a set of inspirational tapes to which he listened. The tapes were recorded speeches of a Black Muslim leader, the honorable Elijah Muhammad. They deal with self-knowledge, freedom and potential. Muhammad Ali would listen to these tapes when he got up in the morning, when he ate his meals during the day and when he retired at night. He claimed that these inspirational messages gave him the power to fight for his black people, not only for their glory in the ring, but also for their civil rights in the arena of life. In the gospel, we have revealed the secret of the power of another man, Jesus Christ. At the very beginning of his gospel, Mark wants there to be no mistake about who Jesus is and what the source of his power is.Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ Pathways and PeacemakersEarly September 1998, Delhi’s Flood Control Board (FCB) offered assistance to Gopalpur slum-dwellers –mainly rickshaw pullers and handcart vendors living alongside the River Yamuna, to widen their access road to the outside world. Before that, the Gopalpur slum was accessible only through a muddy pathway broad enough only to accommodate a cycle-rickshaw or handcart. The gullible slum-dwellers, assured by the FCB officials that their cycle-rickshaws and handcarts would smoothly move in and out of Gopalpur, laboured for weeks to construct a broader pathway into their slum. To their horror, the very road they constructed was used to bring in bulldozers and demolish their shanties that stood undisturbed for decades. This pathway was a death trap!Francis Gonsalves in “Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds” Repent, change for the Kingdom is at hand!While working on his famous painting, ‘The Last Supper’, Leonardo da Vinci had an argument with a certain man. He lashed out against the fellow with bitter words and threatening gestures. When the argument was over, da Vinci went back to the canvas where he was working on the face of Jesus. He could not paint one stroke. At last he realized what the trouble was. He put down his brush, found the man he had offended, and asked his forgiveness. He returned to his studio and calmly continued painting the face of Jesus. Application: Who do we need to forgive?Gerard Fuller in ‘Stories for All Seasons' Repent! Let Go!I’m sure you have heard of the story of how hunters catch monkeys. They will cut a small hole in a coconut, just large enough for the monkey to put its hand in and fill it with a sweet treat and leave the coconut fixed under a tree. The poor monkey would smell the treat, squeeze its hand into the coconut, grab the treat in its little paw and find that its fist would not come through the hole. Since the monkey will not let go of the treat, the monkey holds itself a prisoner. While it sits there desperately grasping its treat, the smart hunter comes and catches it. Silly monkey! All it had to do was let go of the treat and remove its hand from the coconut and run for freedom. This story brings me to another level. To get my hand out of the jar, regardless of what the jar is, I need to change. Einstein said “We cannot solve problems using the same kind of thinking we used to create them.” We like to think we are smart enough to let go of something to gain our freedom, however, the truth is, many of us hang on to things so tightly that we imprison ourselves. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.”John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’ With His help we can change whatever needs to be changed in our lives! 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.
