------------------------------------------------------------------------ Photos from Goa's 2009 mando festival: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/sets/72157622843319441/ Event on Wed, Thurs evening from 5 pm onwards, Kala Academy, Panaji-Goa
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9-Dec-2009 Dear Friend, From our daily experience we know that when we await the arrival of a near and dear one coming home, we can do nothing to hasten that arrival. All we can do is wait with hope and joyful expectation! Yet we want to do something, we find that we just can’t wait passively. We ask ourselves: What can we do? What should we do while we wait? In fact, our actions and behaviour reveal how eagerly we wait for the one who is to come. Do we expectantly await the coming of the Lord? What must we do for His coming? Have a joyful and exciting waiting for His coming! His coming is as certain as the dawn! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Third Sunday of Advent “What must we do? How do we prepare?” 13-Dec-2009 Readings: Zephaniah 3: 14-18; Philippians 4: 4-7; Luke 3: 10-18; Today’s first reading from the prophet Zephaniah invites the people to cheer up and rejoice, to be filled with hope because God is coming to them. These words are not merely to pep them up and boost their morale but to assure them that God is bringing about their salvation and transformation. The source of their joy is God who is already in their midst. Even though the environment and the situations they find themselves in might be burdensome and depressing, the Lord’s presence should fill them with joy. They have nothing to fear, God himself will renew them and be their joy if only they believe in him and admit their need of him. Do we admit our need of Him? I Need Him, I Need To Change… A friend of mine is a member of AA. He is now a fully convinced and convicted member, after a long period of rationalization, self justification, and denial. For most of his first year there was self justification, and denial. For most of his first year there was a raging battle going on within him. He could not identify with the others, and because he had not done all the crazy things the others had done, he continued to deny that he really was an alcoholic. By sticking with the programme, however, and by continuing to attend the meetings, he gradually came to a point where he was ready to ask for help, to take his focus off the others, and to ask himself ‘what do I have to do to gain sobriety?’ It was only then that his recovery had begun. The message had got through to him, and he was ready to make a personal response to what he was hearing. Jack McArdle in ‘And that’s the Gospel Truth!’ Today’s gospel continues to focus on the precursor, John the Baptist, who invites the people to repentance and conversion to come back to the Lord. The people who came to listen to John the Baptist were impressed by his words and believed in his preaching. They want to turn back to the Lord and so they ask him: “What shall we do? “It proves that they understood the implication of his message. They have to change and show by their deeds that they are repentant. They sense that the baptism of John the Baptist demands involvement. To their query John replies quickly: “Share the food you have with those who have not, and your clothes with those who do not have enough.” Our love for God and our desire to encounter him has to be manifested in our love and concern for our neighbour. God desires to come to us in our brothers and sisters in need. The tax collectors came to John and he asked them to be just and fair and not to extort unfair taxes, for God’s kingdom demands that we be just and fair with others. The soldiers too heeded John’s call and asked how they could be saved. John asked them not to dominate and exert pressure and force on the people while enforcing the law. According to the Bible the basic requirement of justice consists in sharing. The acceptance of the good news of the Lord’s coming requires a conversion of heart; from being getters we have to become givers, from being self-centred we have to be other-centred. As the people heeded John’s words they were drawn to believe in what he was saying and wondered whether he was the promised Messiah. John quickly clarifies who he is and his mission: “I am not the one expected, I am unworthy to untie his sandals.” When God comes God will distinguish the wheat from the chaff in our behaviour. While we await his coming we do so in prayerful joy and thanksgiving. The practice of justice and the experience of joy will bring us to the authentic peace of God. Anticipation Carly Simon once wrote and sang a song called “Anticipation” that became very popular. In it she describes how she waits for her beloved to come, imagines what their being together will be like and rehearses what she will say to him. Anticipation is looking forward to some future event. The anticipated event is almost certain to happen and it arouses in us considerable thought and feeling. We eagerly anticipate important moments in our lives like graduations and weddings; we get all excited about things like the new Ford Aerostar or a new Rocky movie; we waited 75 years in anticipation of the return of Halley’s comet. Anticipation is one of the moods of today’s readings. As our Advent days dwindle down, may we focus, not so much on the secular aspects of Christmas, as on its sacred dimensions. May we look forward with eager anticipation to the coming of Jesus in a new and deeper way – into our hearts and homes, into our thoughts and feelings, and into our dreams and desires. Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ “By the time Luke is writing his gospel, some decades after the ascension it is the Church, through the ministry of the apostles, which confers Christian baptism in the Spirit. Luke’s account is certainly not without factual foundation, but his principal interest is in the story of salvation as it continues to unfold in the early church. The impending end of the world is less emphasized, and John the Baptist’s call to conversion receives a new relevance; it now seeks to influence men in the day-to-day conduct of their ordinary lives. Luke shows us a people, men and women of goodwill, of all social levels and occupations. Listening to the words of the Precursor, they have realized the necessity of changing something in their way of life. Like them, we ask: ‘what must we do?’ The first condition of any conversion is to abandon our self-sufficiency and to recognize the need to be profoundly touched by some word which will take us out of ourselves. Let each of us then take stock of our situation and see how best to fulfill our obligations of social justice, mutual support and charity in our particular circumstances and work. The many individuals who cast a first glance at themselves and accept to open themselves to the unforeseeable ways of God in the concrete reality of their daily lives become a people with a feeling of expectancy. Someone is coming who will continue within our hearts the itinerary which is already begun. Someone. Today too, precursors arise who prepare the way, asking in our day the fundamental questions about life and death. God’s prophets point always to another more powerful than themselves: Jesus Christ, who still comes to baptise each one – in fire, to burn the chaff and in the Spirit, to gather the ripe wheat. ” -Glenstal Bible Missal Something More A vivid illustration of what John was challenging people to do is found in Catherine Marshall’s book Something More. One day her daughter Linda was about to take a shower. Linda had one foot in the shower stall and the other foot on the bathroom rug. As she stood there in this awkward position, it suddenly occurred to her that this was a good picture of her life. Linda had always wanted to commit her life to God, but she could never quite do it. She always kept one foot in and one foot out. Now, it seemed the moment had finally come when she must decide for God or against him. Standing there, Linda thought about what choosing the Lord would cost her. The price would be high. But she was tired of living in two worlds and enjoying neither. Linda paused for a long time, took a deep breath, and said aloud, “Lord, I choose you!” With that, she stepped into the shower. It was for her a true baptism. It’s this kind of a change of heart that John was calling upon people to make. Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’ Ode To Joy Folklore tells a story of followers of a Guru who sought to learn from the Master the stages he had passed through in his quest for the divine. He said, “God first led me by the hand into the Land of Action, where I dwelt for several years. Then he returned and led me to the Land of Sorrows; there I lived until my heart was purged of every inordinate attachment. That’s when I found myself in the Land of Love, whose burning flames consumed whatever was left in me of self. This brought me to the Land of Silence, where the mysteries of life and death were bared before my wondering eyes.” “Was that the final stage of your quest?” they asked. “No,” the Master said. “One day God said, “today I shall take you to the innermost sanctuary, to the heart of God Himself.’ And I was led to the Land of Laughter.” That story is somewhat like Dante’s Purgatory, whose only exit was passing through a wall of fire. Once the pain was burned away by love, the other side was Paradise, sheer joy. Life is full of both sadness and joy. Both can be opportunities for growth, and joy can overcome sadness. An example is Beethoven, whose deafness gradually became so profound that he shared in the difficulties of many deaf people: He was unable to do such simple things as join in group conversations, he felt embarrassed and isolated; eventually he felt it necessary to withdraw within himself. Conducting the first performance of his Ninth and last symphony, pathetically he had to be told to turn around to face the audience to acknowledge the waves of applause, because he couldn’t hear them. Yet in the midst of his deafness - a sadness unique for a musician – he composed his beautiful, lilting “Ode to Joy”. Harold Buetow in ‘God Still Speaks: Listen!’ Let’s close by paraphrasing a prayer. It was written over 1,600 years ago by an early Christian named Origen: “Jesus, my feet are dirty… Pour water into your basin and come and wash my feet. “I am overbold, I know, in asking this, but I dread the consequence of your warning, when you said: “‘If I do not wash your feet, you can have no companionship with me.’ Wash my feet, then, because I do want to be your companion. “Amen.” May we by our kind deeds and loving actions live in joyful expectation of His coming! 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 remodelled web site www.netforlife.net Thank you. The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Yahoo! Homepage. http://in.yahoo.com/
