15-May-2017 Dear Friend, To say “I love you!” is easy. To really mean: “I love you!”, in the words of Dostoevsky, is “as hard as hell.” Part of the explanation for it being hard is that if we love, we obey the commands and wishes of our beloved. This applies to our relations with other people and with God. We cannot truly love and remain in love unless we are filled with the Spirit of love, which God promises to those who believe. May His Word challenge us and fill us with hope. Have a Spirit-filled weekend! –Fr. Jude Sun. Ref: 6th Sunday of Easter “I will not leave you desolate. I will be with you always!” 21-May-2017Acts: 8: 5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3: 15-18; John 14: 15-21;
Today’s first reading refers to the story of the early Church during the persecution of Christians by Saul, because of which the believers were scattered and Philip set off for Samaria. Samaritans hated the Jews, yet when they heard the gospel they accepted the message and were converted. Because of persecution the gospel was preached to the gentiles. Because Philip believed enough to sacrifice himself for God, many crippled in mind and body were cured and the people received the Holy Spirit in Samaria. Love works miracles among the people who believed and the Spirit becomes a source of power in their midst. The response of the Jerusalem Church at the good news in Samaria is to praise God that his Spirit is given to all people. God’s Spirit knows no boundaries. We too need to rejoice whenever and wherever we see the Spirit at work. The force withinThere is an old fable about a changeling eagle. A tribal who lived in a forest, one day found an egg of an eagle. He took the egg home and hatched it along with the other chicken eggs. This eaglet started growing up with the other chicks. It started eating mud, pecking and hopping here and there like the other chicks. But it never learned to fly like an eagle. One day as it was foraging for food from the ground, it saw an eagle majestically soaring high in the sky. As the eagle was admiring the grandeur of the soaring eagle, the other chicks came and said to the eaglet, “Look, that is the eagle –the king of the birds. You and I are chickens. We cannot fly like the eagle. –Often we lead poor lives without realizing the power inherent in us. We are like that eaglet helplessly admiring the power in others when we ourselves possess that power. Often, we end up in defeat, frustration and failure because we are ignorant of the power God has given us through his Spirit. We can do marvellous things when we associate with God.John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’ The context of today’s Gospel is the human anxiety of the disciples about the absence of Jesus and ultimately about the absence of God caused by his foretelling of his departure from the world. Jesus had no intention of leaving his disciples behind him in a situation where they are left to hope without help. He does not deny the anxiety and distress, but offers a promise of presence and a sense of meaning embedded in sharing God’s life. The power of the Spirit is the rock of Christian hope. Without the Spirit, the followers of Jesus would be thrown back on their own resources which are clearly inadequate. With the Spirit however, the disciples can face the future with a power which is much larger than themselves. In this Gospel we are promised the gift of the Holy Spirit, who will come as our advocate, the Spirit of Truth. By giving us the Spirit as an advocate what does Jesus imply? He wishes us to know that the Spirit, the best gift that God can give us, is the gift of his own presence in our lives. The Spirit will stand besides us, will comfort us when we ask, help us in difficult times, and speak on our behalf when we are in need. Although people with no religious faith comfort one another, our fellowship with the Spirit is deeper and more awesome. His power becomes real only if we let Him work in and through us. Torch and BucketThere is a story of a person who saw an angel walking down the street. The angel was carrying a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. “What are you going to do with that torch and bucket?” the person asked. The angel stopped abruptly and said, “With the torch, I’m going to burn down the mansions of heaven, and with the bucket of water, I’m going to put off the fires of hell. Then we’re going to see who really loves God. The angel’s point is that many people obey God’s commandments out of fear of punishment of hell or hope of reward in heaven. They don’t obey him for the reason Jesus gives in today’s gospel. “If you love me,” Jesus says, “you will obey my commandments.”Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’ Doing what his Father saidMore than ninety people conducted an all-night search for Dominic DeCarlo, an eight-year-old boy lost on a snowy mountain slope. Dominic, who had been on a skiing trip with his father, apparently had ridden on a new lift and skied off the run without realizing it. An hour passed, the search party and the boy’s family became more concerned for his health and safety. By dawn they had found no trace of the boy. Two helicopter crews joined the search and within fifteen minutes they spotted ski tracks. A ground team followed the tracks, which changed to small footprints. The footprints led to a tree, where they found the boy at last. “He’s in super shape!” Sergeant Terry Silbaugh, area search and rescue coordinator announced to the anxious family and press. “In fact, he’s in better shape than we are in right now!” Silbaugh explained why the boy did so well despite spending a night in the freezing elements. His father had enough foresight to warn the boy what to do if he became lost, and his son had enough trust to do exactly what the father said. Dominic protected himself from frostbite and hypothermia by snuggling up to the tree and covering himself with branches. As a young child, he would never have thought of doing this on his own. He was simply obeying his wise and loving father.Luis Palau from ‘Devotions’ “I don’t feel loving, what can I do?”A man said to a counsellor: “My wife and I just don’t have the same feelings for each other we used to have. I guess I just don’t love her anymore and she doesn’t love me anymore. What can I do?” The counsellor asked, “The feeling isn’t there anymore?” “That’s right.” He affirmed. “And we have three children we are really concerned about. What do you suggest?” “Love her,” the counsellor replied. “I told you the feeling just isn’t there anymore.” “Love her.” “You don’t understand. The feeling of love just isn’t there.” “Then love her. If the feeling isn’t there, that’s a good reason to love her.” “But how do you love when you don’t love?” “My friend, love is a verb, action. Love, the feeling – is the fruit of love, the verb. So love her. Serve her. Sacrifice. Listen to her. Empathize. Appreciate. Affirm her. Are you willing to do that?” -To quote Dostoevsky, love is “as hard as hell.” If we love, we obey the commands and wishes of our beloved. This applies to our relations with other people and with us and God. Though reasonable and for our betterment, that sometimes goes against our grain.Harold Buetow in ‘God Still Speaks: Listen!’ Believing in the PowerOn the banks of a river lived a hermit. Over thirty years he had been doing ‘Sadhana’ to walk on water. He was a great devotee of Lord Krishna. He sustained his life only on cow’s milk which was supplied by an eleven-year old girl, living on the other bank of the river. One day her mother said to her, “There are heavy clouds and there is going to be a downpour and the river will be flooded. Tell the hermit that you won’t come tomorrow.” The girl did so. The hermit said to the girl. “Don’t worry about the flood. I will teach you a ‘mantra’ and you will be able to walk on the water. Close your eyes and repeat ‘Krishna, Krishna, Krishna’ and you can comfortably walk on water.”As expected the rain came in torrents and the river was in spate. The girl got ready to take milk to the hermit. The mother refused. But the girl told her mother that the hermit had given her a ‘mantra’ to walk on water. Believing her, the mother allowed her to go. The girl went to the river, closed her eyes, repeated ‘Krishna, Krishna, Krishna,’ and walked on the water. The hermit was looking on in wonder. Repeating the ‘mantra’ the girl returned home walking on water. The hermit thought to himself. “How wonderful, I enabled that girl to walk on water. I have the power. Now let me try for myself.” Confidently, he stepped on the water and drowned forthwith. –The young girl had tremendous faith in the mantra given by the hermit, but not the hermit himself. It is implicit faith that can do wonders in this world.G. Francis Xavier in ‘The World’s best Inspiring Stories’ No orphans in the reign of GodMargaret Fishback, a young woman, who searched for direction at the crossroads of her life, composed a beautiful poem with the title “Footprints”. “Footprints” has appeared on plaques, and cards, calendars and posters, treasured by millions all over the world. “One night I had a dream – I dreamed of walking along the beach with the Lord and across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints, one belonged to me and the other belonged to the Lord. When the last scene of my life flashed before me I looked back, I looked at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that many times along the path of life, there was only one set of footprints. I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of my life. This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you would walk with me all the way, but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why in times when I needed you most, you should leave me.” The Lord replies, “My precious little child, I love you and I would never leave you during your times of trial and suffering. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.” – The good news given to us today is that while the journey of life will not always be easy, it need not be travelled alone.John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’ May we discover the power of His Spirit working in us and through 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.
