11-Apr-2018 Dear Friend, It has been said that good news is too good to be true! We all know of people disbelieving us when we have tried to convey some good news to them. We want to hear good news yet we are more ready to believe bad news! The good news today is that Jesus is alive and present right now in our midst, in our world exactly as it is today! Do we believe He is with us in this messy world of ours? Haven’t we to first acknowledge our lack of faith before we can experience Him in our lives? Have a reassuring weekend! He is alive! Alleluia! –Fr. Jude Sun. Refl. 3rd. Sun. of Easter “Repent of sins and forgive the offences of others!” 15-Apr-2018Acts 3: 13-15, 17-19; 1 John. 2: 1-5; Luke 24: 35-48; In today’s first reading Peter highlights how God maintains his covenant with mankind continually despite their sins and ignorance. We may fowl up things and regret the blunders we have caused but God’s plan continues in spite of it all. He continues to write straight through the crooked lines of our history. Peter makes the point that our God is one and the same, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors and our God as well. Peter is quick to confront the sinfulness of the leaders and the people of Israel. When we look at our sins and their effect on the world around us we could easily give way to despair and despondency. Our response should not be one of passive resignation and disowning of responsibility but rather one of repentance and reconciliation. Eternal HarmonyCenturies ago, it was known far and wide that a certain tribal leader was the greatest in all the tribes. In order to help his people he carefully put laws into place so that he had a reputation for uncompromising justice. But in spite of the laws there were problems; someone in the tribe was stealing. He called the people and reasoned with them. “This stealing must stop. A penalty has been imposed of twenty lashes from the whip for the person caught stealing.” But the thief continued stealing, so the leader called the people again. “Please hear me, he pleaded. The penalty has been increased to thirty lashes.” Still the stealing continued and again the leader called them, pleaded with them and increased the penalty to forty lashes. Finally a man came to say that the thief was caught and as word spread everyone gathered to see who it was. A single gasp emerged through the crowd as the thief emerged between the two guards. The tribal leader’s face fell in shock and grief for the thief was his very own mother, old and frail. “What will he do?” the people murmured. Would he uphold the law or would his love for his mother win over it? The people waited eagerly to watch the outcome. Finally the leader spoke. “My beloved people,” His voice broke. “It is for our safety and our peace. There must be forty lashes; the pain this crime has caused is too great.” With his nod the guards led his mother forward. One gently removed her robe to expose her bony and crooked back. The appointed man stepped forward and began to unwind the whip. At the same moment the leader stepped forward and removed his robe as well, exposing his broad shoulders, wrapped his arms around his dear mother, shielding her with his own body. He whispered gently against her cheek as his tears blended with hers. He nodded once more, and the whip came down again and again. A single moment, yet in it love and justice found an eternal harmony.John MacArthur as told in ‘Grace to You’ The Gospel scene is once again the hideout of the disciples and there is pandemonium and confusion instead of peace and harmony. Jesus had died and now there was talk that He had risen from the dead. While they are arguing and debating their stories, Jesus himself stood among them, and they were startled and terrified and believed they were seeing a ghost. Jesus’ words are: “Peace be with you!” Unfortunately, instead of fixing our gaze on him and believing in his words of pardon, we prefer to stay with our past and in fear of punishment. If we turn our gaze to Him, He will open our minds to understand the scriptures, to understand everything; our death is necessary so that we too might rise up to new life. We are called to be witnesses of the forgiveness of sins; witnesses of a God of Peace and New Life! The Four-legged theologianThe sick man seized the doctor’s hand. “I’m so afraid to die. Do tell me doctor, what is waiting for me when I die? What will it be like on the other side?” “I don’t know.” answered the doctor. “You don’t know?” whispered the dying man. Without further reply the doctor opened the door into the corridor. A dog sprang in, jumped up to him and showed in every way his joy at seeing his master again. Then the doctor turned back to the sick man and said: “Did you see how the dog behaved? He has never been in this room before and does not know the people here. But he knew his master was on the other side of the door and so he leapt joyfully in as soon as the door opened. Now look: I don’t know anything exactly about what is waiting for us after death either, but it is enough for me to know that my master is on the other side. So when the door opens one day I shall go in with great joy.”Pierre Lefevre from ‘One Hundred Stories to Change Your Life’ The wounds of loveThere was a man who was very attached to his father, who had been a laborer all his life. When the father died the son was grief-stricken. As he stood quietly gazing down into the coffin in which he was laid out, he was particularly struck by his father’s hands. Even small things can reveal the essence of a person’s life. Later he said: ‘I will never forget those magnificently weathered old hands. They told the story of a countryman’s life in the eloquent language of wrinkles, veins, old scars and new. My father’s hands always bore some fresh scratch or cut as adornment, the result of his latest tangle with a scrap of wire, a rusted pipe, a stubborn root. In death they did not disappoint even in that small and valuable particular. ‘It is not given to sons to know everything about their fathers, but I have those hands in my memory to supply evidence of the obligations he met, the sweat he gave, the honest deeds he performed. By looking at those hands you could read a better part of the old man’s heart.’ Jesus said to the apostles: ‘Look at my hands and feet … Touch me and see for yourselves…’ He said to Thomas: ‘See my wounded hands and side. Cease doubting and believe.’Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies’ AfterlifeIn the movie Resurrection, actress Ellen Burstyn stars as Edna Mae McCauley who suffers near-death. As a result of a car crash, Edna Mae apparently dies in a hospital emergency room. After a few moments of frantic effort, the medics succeed in reviving her. During that interval of apparent death, Edna Mae has a mysterious experience of an afterlife. She is transported through a tunnel of light where she meets family and friends who have already died. When she returns to consciousness, she remembers this peaceful experience very vividly, and she is blessed with the power of healing. The movie Resurrection reflects what researchers like Raymond Moody and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross have learned from people who have had similar near-death experiences. Such glimpses of an afterlife do not prove there is a resurrection after we die. But hint at its possibility.Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ Fresh Fish Sold HereTo sell fish a fisherman painted a signboard reading, “Fresh Fish Sold Here.” To disturb business, his foe said, “You don’t sell stale fish, do you? So why write ‘fresh’? Agreeing the fisherman painted a new signboard with just: “Fish Sold Here.” Once again, his foe suggested, “Obviously, you are selling fish here, not there!” Nodding in agreement, the fisherman went back and returned with a new signboard –“Fish is Sold.” Now the foe appeared a third time and said, “Anybody with eyes will see that you are selling fish, not meat! Wipe of the word ‘fish’!” The gullible fisherman was so confused he wanted to make still another signboard, forgetting that he was selling fish! – If there is something one really believes in beyond doubt, then one must cling to that truth even if people offer advice, and threats to change one’s belief. I’d imagine that the fishermen-followers of Jesus were in the same predicament as they sought to comprehend Jesus’ life and to proclaim Him. Today’s readings help us to trace their ‘faith journey’ from doubt to faith, from dread to fearlessness.Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds’ Get away Satan!The devil once wanted to deceive a holy woman and appeared to her disguised as the risen Lord. “I’ve come to save you, my child!” said the devil. The woman looked up and said, “If you are Christ show me your wounds!” At this the devil replied, “I’ve come from heaven; in my glory!” The woman cried, “Get away Satan! A Christ without wounds is no Christ!Anonymous Eyes are openedHere is a story about a recent convert to the Christian faith, who was asked by one of his unbelieving friends about Jesus. The friend said to him: “I hear that you have become a Christian.” “Yes.” said the convert. “Then you must know a great deal about Christ,” said the friend. “Tell me what country was he born in?” “I don’t know,” replied the convert. “Well then, what was his age when he died?” “I don’t know,” replied the convert. “Well can you tell me how many sermons he preached? Or how he was born, or how he did miracles, or how he was raised from the dead?, asked the friend. “I don’t know,” responded the convert. “You certainly know very little for a man who claims to be a Christian.” said the friend. “You are right,” replied the convert. “I am ashamed of how little I know – but this much I do know. Three years ago I was a drunkard. I was in debt. My family was falling to pieces. My wife and children would dread my return home each evening. I was desperate. I gave my heart to God. Now I have given up booze, we are out of debt, and my wife and I are in love once more. All this Christ has done for me. This much I know!”John Pichappilly in ‘Ignite your Spirit’ May we discover the Risen Lord in our broken lives and broken world! Fr. Jude Botelho botelhoj...@gmail.com 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.
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