30-Apr-2018 Dear Friend, We are nearing the end of the Easter season and preparing for the gift of the Spirit given to us at Pentecost. We are reminded today that our faith is a gift of the Spirit and to be witnesses of the resurrection we must let the Spirit take full possession of us. Unfortunately, we let our prejudices and even our traditional religious practices come in the way of the Spirit taking possession of us. Our God is a God of surprises and often He does not go by the rules. The sign of the Spirit is always life and love. Have a love-filled weekend! –Fr. Jude Sun. Ref. 6th Sun. of Easter “Whoever does not love does not know God!” 06-May-2018 Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48; 1John 4: 7-10; John 15: 1-8; In today’s passage from the Acts, Peter moved by the Spirit enters Cornelius’ home. Cornelius, who had heard of the miracle Peter had wrought, fell at Peter’s feet and worshipped him. Peter, wiser after the resurrection, asks him to rise. “Stand up; I am only a mortal.” As Peter mixes with the household of Cornelius he comes to the realization that God’s spirit is present there among them even though they are not Jews. Peter himself experienced God’s spirit descending on all who were present, even on the pagan family of Cornelius, and they all received the gifts of the Spirit. Today, we are reminded that if we are believers, we must be open to all and build bridges rather than barriers between ourselves. God’s spirit is a spirit of openness, of sharing and of loving and no one should be excluded. “Don’t bug me! Hug me!”“Don’t bug me! Hug me!” says a bumper sticker. One man who believes this strongly went around giving hugs to all sorts of people. Challenged to come to a home for the disabled, he hugged people, who were terminally ill, severely retarded or quadriplegic. Finally, he came to the last person, Leonard, who was wearing a big white bib, on which he was drooling. Overcoming his initial reluctance, the man took a deep breath, leaned down and gave Leonard a hug. Suddenly Leonard began to squeal, “Eeehh! Eeeehh!” Some of the other patients in the room began to clang things together. The man turned to the staff- physicians, nurses and orderlies –for some sort of explanation, only to find every one of them was crying. To his enquiry, “What’s going on?” the nurse said, “This is the first time in twenty-three years we have ever seen Leonard smile.”Harold Buetow in ‘God Still Speaks: Listen’ In the gospel we are reminded of the outgoing nature of God, because of which he continues to love us and share his spirit with all peoples. If we are to be his disciples we too must be people who go out of our way to love others. We could ask: What does remaining in his love imply? Jesus has a simple response to this query. “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love….” What Jesus is asking of us is not a slavish obedience to God. God is not interested in keeping us in line. He is not watching to see if we step out of line, he is not a police-man God. God wants what is the best for us and it is in obeying him that we do what is best for us, and what will bring us peace happiness and love. We sometimes tend to believe that God is out to make life difficult for us, that he keeps testing us and deliberately does not answer our prayer. To put the record straight he reminds us that He is our friend, and we are not his servants or slaves, but his friends. We have many modern-day heroes, who have followed in His footsteps. Can we make our lives channels of his love? Damien the LeperWhen Damien the Leper arrived in Molokai, he spent the first few weeks sleeping out under the trees, because he was unable to cope with the stench in the hovels of the lepers. He certainly wouldn’t dare preach to them about God’s love for them because as they saw it, it would be offensive. He opened his heart to the grace of God and, in no time at all, he was washing them, bandaging them, and burying them. He came to love them and through him, they came to believe that God loved them. He smoked a pipe to counteract the stench, but soon he was passing the pipe around for others to have a smoke. He ate food with them from a common bowl, out of which they scooped the food with hands that had no fingers. He caught the disease himself, and was happy to be able to live and to die for them. Greater love than this…..Jack McArdle in ‘And that’s the Gospel truth’ God is LoveOnce there was young man who was having doubts about the existence of God. So, one day he paid a visit to a monk who had a reputation for holiness. He asked the monk, ‘Do you believe in God?’ ‘Yes, I do,’ the monk answered, ‘On what evidence do you believe?’ the young man asked. ‘I believe in God because I know him,’ came the reply. ‘I experience the presence of God within me every day.’ ‘But how is that possible?’ the youth asked. ‘When we love, we experience God, and doubt vanishes like the early morning mist before the sun,’ replied the monk. The youth thought about this for a while, then asked, “How can I achieve this kind of certainty?’ ‘By acts of love,’ came the reply. ‘Try to love your neighbours; love them actively and unceasingly. As you learn to love them more and more, you will become more and more convinced of the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. The monk was only echoing the worlds of St. John: “My dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love’” Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies’ Choosing to loveIn everything that he did Jesus kept on choosing to love. He did not choose once upon a time; he choose to love at all times. It drained him. That self-giving quality of divine love is one that can be seen in the lives of many people. One doctor saw it in a way that he can never forget. As a young medical student, he watched an unusual operation in a London hospital: It was the first time that this particular brain operation had been carried out in this country. It was performed by one of our leading surgeons upon a young man of great promise for whom, after an accident, there seemed to be no other remedy. It was an operation of the greatest delicacy, in which a small error would have had fatal consequences. In the outcome the operation was a triumph: but it involved seven hours of intense and uninterrupted concentration on the part of the surgeon. When it was over, a nurse had to take him by the hand, and lead him from the operating theatre like a blind man or a little child. That kind of self-giving and concentration on the needs of another reflect something of the quality of God’s love in Jesus.Denis McBride in ‘Seasons of the Word’ Where love is, God isIn a certain village in the Swiss Alps there is a small church which has been used by generations of worshippers. What makes it so beautiful is the story of how it came to be built on that particular spot. The story goes like this. Two brothers worked a family farm, sharing the produce and profit. One was married, the other wasn’t. The climate was harsh with the result that grain was sometimes scarce. One day the single brother said to himself, ‘It’s not fair that we should share the produce equally. I’m alone, but my brother has a family to support.’ So, every now and then he would go out at night, take a sack of grain from his own barn, quietly cross the field between their houses, and place it in his brother’s bin. Meanwhile, his brother had a similar idea, and said, ‘It’s not right that we should share the produce equally. I have a family to support me but my brother is all alone.’ So, every now and then he would go at night, take a sack of grain from his barn, and quietly place it in his brother’s bin. This went on for a number of years. Each brother was puzzled how his supply of grain never dwindled. Then one night they bumped into each other in the dark. When they realized what had been happening, they dropped their sacks, and embraced each other. Suddenly a voice from heaven said: ‘Here I will build my church. For where people meet in love, there my presence shall dwell.’Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday and holy Day Liturgies’ Love makes God presentA man was walking down the road when he spied a farmer. He approached him and said. “Sir, I have travelled a long way and am thinking of settling down in the next town. Tell me, what kind of people live there?” The farmer asked. “What kind of people were in the town you left?” The man replied, “Oh, it was not so good. The people were selfish, indifferent, just out for themselves. Couldn’t care less about you or what happened.” The farmer replied. “You will find the same kind of folks in the next town.” The man thanked him and went in another direction. later that day another traveller passing by said to the farmer, “Sir, I have travelled a long way and am thinking of settling down in the next town. Tell me, what kind of people are there?’ The farmer asked, “What kind of people were in the town you left?” The man replied, it was hard to leave. The people sang with you in good times and helped you in bad times. It was not perfect, but the people were basically good and friendly.” The farmer said, “You will find the same kind of folks in the next town.” Since we’re made in the image and likeness of God, it is true that we will find God in every person we see. So, it is reasonable that we love everyone.John Pichappilly in ‘Ignite your Spirit’ May our God experience make us more focused on others than on ourselves!
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.
