2-Dec-2007
Dear Friend,
At times we discover that our lives are a bundle of contradictions! There are
times when we want things to happen fast, we find the pace of life too slow and
we keep pushing ourselves and others to the limit. We want fast food, quick
results; we want speed and become easily impatient. On the other hand we want
to move at our own pace and don't want to be pushed. Especially when it comes
to changing our behavior and bad habits we want to do it when we want. We
resist change. We will act but not now! Perhaps God is calling us to change
something in our lives right now before it is too late! Have a hopeful weekend
looking forward to a change of heart! Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: Second Sunday of Advent -Change of Heart
9-Dec-2007
Readings: Isaiah 11: 1-10; Romans 15: 4-9;
Matthew 3: 1-12;
In the first reading from the prophet Isaiah we hear about the coming of the
Messiah and the kind of justice and peace he would bring. Isaiah foretells that
even though the family tree of Jesse has been reduced to a mere stump,
nevertheless from that stump will spring - a true king filled with the Spirit
and endowed with all the virtues of his ancestors. The new king, the Messiah
will be a champion of the poor and will restore justice and peace for all. The
prophet has a marvelous vision of the kingdom of God in which all violence will
be overcome and people will live in unity and harmony with nature and with one
another.
Vision Of A New World
The astronauts were the first human beings to see the earth from outside. As
they gazed down on the earth from space, they realized as never before, that we
are one family, with spaceship Earth as our common home. One of them said
later: "The first day in space, we all pointed to our own countries. The second
day we pointed to our continents. By the third day we were all aware of only
one Earth." -The prophets had the same kind of high and wide vision of how
things could be. But how real is that vision? As for the wolf and lamb living
together, often two neighbours, or even two members of the same family, have a
fall out and refuse to talk to one another. Are our dreams a utopian fairy
tale? We need to keep the vision before us then it will give us the energy to
live it out. Instead of encouraging us to escape from real life a beautiful
vision can summon us to get involved.
Flor McCarthy in 'New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies'
The second reading from St. Paul's letter to the Romans reminds the readers
that God is faithful to his promises. God does not forget his promises to
Israel and he is merciful with regard to the pagans. Paul speaks of the
importance of hope on our faith journey. Those who do not give up will
experience God's help. Paul also asks his followers to support one another by
being tolerant and friendly towards one another. The model for us is always the
Lord Jesus -'Treat one another in the same way as Christ treated you.'
Hope In The Lord
There is a story of a smith of the Middle Age who was taken prisoner and
confined in a dungeon. Because of the knowledge his craft had taught him he
carefully examined the heavy links that bound him, expecting to find a flaw
that would show him a weak place which could soon be made to yield. But
presently he dropped his hands hopelessly. Certain marks told him that the
chain was of his own making, and it had always been his boast that one of his
workmanship could not be broken. There are truly no chains so hard to break as
those of our own forging, but they are not hopeless. The worst possible habits
will yield to human resolution and strength from above.
D. Williamson in 'Quotes and Anecdotes'
The message of John does not differ from that of Jesus Christ. In today's
Gospel John is compared to the voice crying out in the wilderness: "Repent for
the kingdom of God is close at hand. Prepare a way for the Lord and make his
paths straight." John calls everyone to change, from the Pharisees and
Sadducees, leaders of religion to the common man in the street. John calls the
whole of Israel to change. If the people do not change, John says a catastrophe
will destroy Israel. To repent would imply a change of heart, a change of
attitude, a change of the way we live. John's life itself was a witness to his
message. The people heard him and were drawn to him and were influenced by him.
The gospel tells us that the crowds came to him, confessed their sins and were
baptized by him. John was not satisfied with mere ritual actions. He confronted
his listeners: "If you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruit, show with
your lives your true
repentance...... Any tree that fails to produce fruit will be cut down and
thrown into the fire." He warns the Pharisees that it will avail them nothing
to plead that Abraham is their father. To the Jew Abraham was unique. So unique
was he in goodness and in his favour with God that his merits sufficed not only
for himself but for all his descendants also. He had built a treasury of merit
which not all the claims and needs of his descendants could exhaust. So the
Jews believed that a Jew, simply because he was a Jew, and not for any merit of
his own, was safe in the life to come. Similarly, we too sometimes tend to
believe, that just because we were baptized Catholics we will be saved. Jesus
challenges this belief. If we are followers of Jesus Christ our lives should
bear evidence of this fact. Jesus also warns us of retribution to come which
imposes on us a two-fold task: personal repentance, and preparation of the ways
by which he who saves is to
come.
Untattoo You
A few years ago a newspaper columnist reported on an unusual programme. It
dealt with removing unwanted tattoos -especially gang-related tattoos -from the
bodies of young people. A surprising thing happened after the column appeared.
Over a thousand letters flooded in from young people all over the country,
asking more about the programme. Because of this remarkable response, the Los
Angele School District and a local cable television company produced a film
called Untattoo You. It told of the dangers of amateur tattooing and showed how
difficult it was to remove small tattoos from arms and faces and larger tattoos
from chests and backs. The stars of the film were young people themselves. They
talked frankly about why they were tattooed in the first place and why they now
wanted the tattoos removed. The film eventually won a national award and was
distributed throughout the country. - The story behind the film Untattoo You
illustrates an important point.
All of us have done things in our past that we now regret and would like to
erase. This is not just true of young people. It is even more true of older
people. The tragic thing about all of this is that so many people regret what
they did but don't know what to do about it now. So they live with the mistake.
However, just as young people rejoiced when they discovered a way to remove
their unwanted tattoos, so we Catholics rejoice that Jesus gave us a way to
remove our sins. Advent reminds us of the great gift Jesus made available to
us, and it urges us to use this gift. Something can be done now about our
mistakes. "Prepare a way for the Lord!"
Mark Link in 'Sunday Homilies'
"Jesus and John preached the same message to the same people. John, 'the voice
crying in the wilderness' expressed his own sense of being unworthy to precede
the Messiah. His baptism too, is only 'in water' and not 'with the Holy
Spirit'. We are put off by this single minded and severe prophet, just as we
are by the seemingly formidable and intolerant God of the Old Covenant. Perhaps
we can forget them both, since we are children of a kingdom of love and grace?
John the Baptist's message should make us see the range of our problems in the
light of God and with reference to God. It should lead us away from the domain
of sin into the domain of love, which is 'strong as death'-of love whose ray is
like a flash of fire -the fire of Yahweh himself. This love cannot be taken
lightly, John warns us. We must look to the Christ's coming - the King who is
here and now and on the last day separates the chaff from the wheat." -
Glenstal Sunday Missal
God At The Window
There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a
sling to play out in the woods, but he could never hit his target. Little
discouraged, he headed back home for the evening tea. As he was walking back he
saw grandma's pet duck. Just out of an impulse, he let the sling fly, it hit
the duck on the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. He quickly dug
a hole and hid the duck in the mud, only to find his sister watching him. Mary
kept quiet. The following day, after lunch, grandma called Mary to do the
dishes. Mary smiled and said, "Grandma, Johnny said he wanted to help you in
the kitchen." Then she turned to Johnny and whispered. "Remember the duck." And
Johnny did the dishes. In the evening grandpa called the children to go
fishing. Grandma said, "Sorry, I want Mary to help me make the dinner." Then
Mary smiled and said, "Well grandma, Johnny told me that he would like to help
you to prepare the dinner." Then turning
to Johnny she whispered, "Remember the duck." Mary went for fishing while
Johnny stayed back to help grandma to prepare the dinner. After many days of
doing his chores and his sister's he could not stand it any longer. He went and
confessed to his grandma that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down and
hugged him and said, "Sweetheart, I know that you killed the duck, I was
standing at the window and saw everything. But because I love you, I had
forgiven you. I was just wondering how long you would allow Mary to make a
slave of you." -Johnny's confession led to his liberation. When we confess we
do not tell God what he does not know. He knows everything because he is
standing at the window. Our failure to confess enslaves us.
John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies'
Do It NOW!
According to the label, Drambuie was the liqueur of Prince Charles Edward, the
famous 'Bonnie Prince Charles.' In a recent magazine, Drambuie was advertized
as: Why wait for your promotion or next raise? Why wait for the holidays? Why
wait for tomorrow? In other words, now is the time to enjoy Drambuie. Now is
the time to sip this smooth liqueur. Now is the time to savour its distinctive
taste. Typical of many ads, there is a note of urgency in the Drambuie
commercial. Tomorrow may be too late. Act now! -Today's Scripture too has a
note of urgency in it, not for the purpose of selling a liqueur, but for the
purpose of arousing us to reform our lives. Why wait for the prophet to return?
Why wait for the promised Messiah to come? Why wait for the kingdom of God to
be established? All these things are already happening. Now is the time to
experience these events by reforming your lives. Now is the time to change your
attitude and conduct. Tomorrow may be
too late. Act now!
Albert Cylwicki in 'His Word Resounds'
May we repent and change our lives now!!
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.
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