20-Nov-2017 Dear Friend, In our present times, we do not make much of royalty and we have discarded the trappings and structures of royalty in favour of democracy. Yet we admire people who are loyal and faithful to lawfully constituted authority. Today we are reminded that God is the ultimate authority and He commands our respect and loyalty not because he exercises power over us but because He constantly cares for us. We can show our loyalty to Him by respecting and caring for His people, our brothers and sisters. Have a renewing weekend, rededicating our lives to His Kingdom! -Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: 34th “Loyal and faithful subjects in Christ the King’s service!” 26-Nov-2017Ezek. 34: 11-17; 1 Cor. 15: 20-28; Matt. 25: 31-46; In the first reading, Ezekiel likens God to a shepherd, who tenderly looks after his sheep, He is always watching over them, and protects them especially when they are in danger. The readings of the day remind us both of God’s care and of God’s expectations of us His people, who belong to His flock. This shepherd does not control or force us to follow him yet at the same time if we are on His side then we must be like our shepherd, caring, and loving. We may give up on God but God never abandons us. If only I knew, it was you!Nelson Mandela was still a young man when he became leader of the banned African National Congress. At a certain stage of the struggle, he was forced to go underground. He used many disguises and in general remained as unkempt as possible, so that he would not be easily recognized. Once he was to attend a meeting in a distant part of Johannesburg. A priest had arranged with friends of his to put him up for the night. However, when Mandela arrived at the house, the elderly woman who answered the doorbell took one look at him and exclaimed, “We don’t want your kind here!” And she shut the door in his face. Later when she found out who it was she had turned away she was horrified and said to him, “If only I knew it was you, I’d have given you the best room in the house.” Mandela did not let incidents like this deter him.Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies’ The Gospel puts before us the other side of the picture. While God is ever caring and watchful over us, He wants us to listen to him, to heed his voice and follow his example. In any organization, if we want to belong to it then we have to live according to its practice, precepts and policies. We are told in no uncertain terms that the only criterion by which we will be judged is whether we have loved our brothers and sisters. The yard stick is something tangible: “What you do to the least of my brothers and sisters you do unto me!” Have we cared for others, have we shown our love in action. What matters is not doing great things, spectacular deeds that will be noticed by others, but the small things often unnoticed that we do for those in need. We will be judged by what we have done as well as by what we have not done. Sometimes we look at ourselves and say we are good because we have not done anything bad. However, have we done the good we could have done? Saying the kind word, lending a helping hand, finding time for others in spite of being busy, cheering up those who are depressed, visiting the friendless, writing or phoning those who are alone, appreciating the many good things that people do for us…. The list of small things can be endless! People ask: “Where can I find God? What should I do to find Him? The answer is simple: He is to be found in the poor, weak, the helpless and in those who take care of these people. The beggar KingThere is an old Irish legend that tells of a king who had no children to succeed him on the throne. Therefore, he had his messengers post signs in every town and village of his kingdom inviting qualified young men to apply for an interview with the king. Two qualifications especially were stressed: The person must have a deep love for God and for his neighbour. The young man around whom the legend centers saw one of these signs. He believed he had the necessary qualifications and he felt an inner calling to apply for an interview. However, the young man was so poor he did not have decent clothes to wear for the interview. He also had no money to buy provisions for the long journey to the King’s castle. He decided to beg for clothes and the provisions he needed. When everything was ready, he set out. After a month’s travel, one day the man caught sight of the king’s castle. At about the same time he also caught sight of a poor old beggar sitting by the side of the road. The beggar held out his hands and pleaded for help. “I’m cold and hungry,” he said in a weak voice. “Could you give me something to eat and something to wear?” The sight of the beggar moved the young man. He stripped off his warm outer clothes and exchanged them for the old tattered coat of the beggar. He also gave the beggar most of the provisions he had been carrying in his backpack for the return journey. Then, somewhat uncertainly, he walked on to the castle. The guards met him and took him to the visitors’ area. After a long wait, he was led to the king. He bowed before the throne. When he straightened up, he could hardly believe his eyes. He said to the king, “You were the beggar besides the road. Why’d you do this to me?” “I had to find out,” said the king, “if you really did love God and neighbour.”Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’ Lord and KingOnce a soldier was taken before the Roman magistrate. His crime was that of being a Christian. The magistrate asked him, “Are you a Christian?” The Christian soldier replied, “Yes.” The magistrate enquired, “If so, are you the enemy of Caesar?” The Christian replied, “No.” “Then you must offer incense to the image of Caesar”, said the magistrate. The Christian replied boldly, “I refused to offer any incense to Caesar. God and God alone must be adored and worshipped. Jesus alone is my God and I love and worship Him alone.” The magistrate threatened saying. “If you refuse I will sever your head from your body.” The Christian boldly replied, “You may cut off my head from my shoulder, but you cannot separate my heart from my king and God – Jesus Christ.” The Christian was decapitated. John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’ The King and IIn the famous 1956 film, ‘The King and I’ transposed into a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, the King of Siam entrusts his many children to the care of governess Anna. Christ the King and I, too, are involved in a love-story. Jesus entrusts his children into my care. How do I respond to the King and his little ones’? “Here is your footstool and there rest your feet where live the poorest, the lowliest and the lost,” wrote Rabindranath Tagore in Gitanjali. May I love The King in that beggar at my doorstep that I might be worthy of his kingdomFrancis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’ Go right in…There was a queue of people outside the gates of heaven. Each person was asked the question: ‘Why do you think you should be admitted?’ The first person in the queue, a very religious man, said, ‘I studied the Bible every day.’ ‘Very good,’ said the Lord. ‘However, we’ll have to carry out an investigation to see why you studied the Bible. So please step aside for a moment.’ The second was a very pious woman who said, ‘Lord, I said my prayers every day without fail.’ ‘Very good,’ the Lord answered. ‘However, we’ll have to see if your motives were pure. So step aside for a moment.’ Then an innkeeper approached. He just said, ‘Lord, on earth I wasn’t a very religious man, but my door was always open to the homeless, and I never refused food to anyone who was hungry.’ ‘Very good,’ said the Lord. ‘In your case no investigation is needed. Go right in.’Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies’ What are you? A young teacher with obvious liberal tendencies explains to her class of small children that she is an atheist; that she does not believe in the existence of god. She asks her class if they are atheists too. Not really knowing what atheism is, but wanting to be like their teacher, their hands explode into the air like flash fireworks. There is however, one exception. A beautiful little girl named Lucy has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different. “Because I am not an atheist.” Then, asks the teacher, “What are you?” “I’m a Christian.” The teacher is a little disturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Lucy why she is a Christian. “Well I was brought up knowing and loving Jesus. My mom is a Christian, and my dad is a Christian, so I am a Christian.” The teacher is now angry. “That’s no reason,” she says loudly. “What if your mom was an idiot and your dad was an idiot. What would you be then?” Lucy paused and smiled and said, “Then I would be an atheist!”John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’ Seeing His faceIn the year 1880 in Paris a rather poorly dressed priest showed up at a presbytery looking for a night’s lodging. He had come all the way from Turin, in Italy and was trying to raise funds to build a church. The visitor’s name was John Bosco, but that meant nothing to the resident priest, so he put him in the attic. Many years later when John Bosco was declared a saint by the Church, the priest said, “Had I known it was John Bosco, I would not have put him in the attic, I would have given him the best room in the house.” We never know who it is we are meeting in the person of our neighbour. But this is not important. What is important is that we see in that person a needy human being, and we do our best to meet his need. The feast of Christ the King teaches us to serve Christ in our fellow creatures here and now with love and complete dedication. For those with faith, behind every face, no matter how strange, the face of Christ lies hidden. Elias Dias in ‘Divine Stories for families’ In all things may we be gentle and loving like Christ our Shepherd King!
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.
