7-Feb-2010 Dear Friend,
All of us want to be happy and whether we admit it or not we keep trying out various paths which we hope will lead us to the happiness we seek. Is there a sure fix recipe for happiness? Can I rely on my efforts or on others to be happy? Or should I rely on God alone the source of true happiness? Jesus by his life showed us the way to happiness and challenged us to acquire his attitudes to be truly happy. Have we tried His path? Have an enjoyable weekend discovering His way! -Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Sixth Sunday of the Year “The choice is yours! Trust God or man!” 14-Feb-2010 Readings: Jeremiah 17: 5-8 1 Corinthians 15: 12, 16-28 Luke 6: 17, 20-26 The first reading from the prophet Jeremiah contains a ‘curse’ and a ‘blessing’ from the prophet. Jeremiah, Yahweh’s mouthpiece says, ‘A curse on the one who puts one’s trust in Man,’ and ‘A blessing on the one who puts his trust in the Lord.’ The context of the prophecy is the fickleness and hardheartedness of the people of Judah, who turned away from Yahweh, as they trusted in the power and might of their armies and those of their allies. They preferred man rather than God and that was the reason for their downfall. The one who trusts in God is like a tree planted by the waterside, whose nourishment is guaranteed and who has no cause for worry. The choice is ours: God or man! Trusting In Others Rather Than In Oneself There was a king who owned a large, perfectly cut diamond. He was very proud of it and made it the national symbol. Unfortunately, the diamond one day got damaged and its beauty was marred by a long, hair-like scratch. Its splendour was gone and its sparkle diminished. The king was very saddened. He gathered all the reputed jewellers for consultation. They all said that it had lost its splendour and value. In desperation, the king sent out word throughout his kingdom, “Anyone who could repair the damaged diamond would be suitably rewarded.” Finally, just when the king was about to give up the hope of restoring the stone, a poor lapidary – a gem engraver came forward to restore it. “Sir,” he said to the king, “this same scratch which has diminished the diamond’s worth will become its most beautiful asset.” The king entrusted the man with the stone, and many weeks passed before his return. Finally, when the lapidary opened his velvet box to display his craftsmanship, the king gasped in amazement. There was the stone – more beautiful than ever, with a beautiful rose carved on it. Only the king could detect that the rose’s graceful stem was the same scratch that had once so ruined the diamond. -If we trust God, he can work all things, even disasters, to our advantage. John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’ In today’s gospel we have Luke’s version of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’, but unlike the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus gives his teaching from a mountain –reminiscent of Moses giving God’s law on Mount Sinai, Luke situates Jesus on the plains. “Jesus came down with the twelve and stopped at a piece of level ground.” Moreover while Matthew has nine ‘beatitudes’ Luke has only four, with each beatitude having its corresponding ‘woe’. While Matthew says “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, Luke will say, “Blessed are you who are poor.” Is Jesus extolling material poverty? Definitely not! Material poverty is bad in itself, since every person is a child of God and one who does not have sufficient material resources struggles to survive in inhuman conditions without the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. What Jesus is talking about is depending and trusting in material possessions or depending on God. Jesus asserts that those who choose God are blessed and those who choose material possessions, are as good as cursed. Jesus says we have to make a choice: we have to choose God or man, riches or poverty. Jesus blesses the poor and delivers a warning to the rich. In doing so he is not exalting material poverty but he is warning of the dangers that the rich face. The rich tend to be content with their present comfortable existence and in their self-sufficiency and tend to forget who their master is. When we have everything that we need then we don’t feel the need of God. We believe that we can manage without Him. He becomes a God for emergencies only and not one on whom we depend on for our daily existence. The Kingdom of God is for those who depend on God, for those who are truly poor and worthy of the blessings of the beatitudes. What do we choose attachment or detachment? In the bible the ‘poor’ refers to the ‘anawim’ which certainly includes those without material resources, but also those who totally trust in God, not man for their support and survival. Such people think little of their possessions and use all their time and talents and possessions for others. Today we are challenged not to get sucked in the rat race for material possessions, power and position but to trust in God more and more in our lives. St. Augustine wrote: “Trust the past to God’s mercy, the present to God’s love, and the future to God’s providence.” Happiness Myths Dr. Harold Treffert is the director of the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Wisconsin. In an article entitled “The American Fairy Tale,” he discusses five dangerous ideas we have about the meaning of happiness. First, happiness is things. The more you accumulate and have, the happier you will be. Second, happiness is what you do. The more you produce and earn, the happier you will be. Third, happiness is being the same as others. The more you are fashionable and conform with the times, the happier you will be. Fourth, happiness is mental health. The fewer problems you have and the more carefree you are, the happier you will be. Fifth, happiness is communicating with electronic gadgets. The more you can communicate with a television set, a satellite or a computer, the happier you will be. According to Dr. Treffert, these five myths about happiness are the cause of many mental health problems today. If happiness cannot be found through these five myths of “The American Fairy Tale,” then where do we find it? Jesus gave us an answer when he outlined the beatitudes in today’s reading from Luke. Unlike Mathew’s version which contains the more familiar listing of eight beatitudes, Luke’s gospel mentions only four beatitudes, which are then followed by four corresponding woes. Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’ “Luke presents Jesus as speaking to his followers – ‘Happy are you.’ ‘Alas for you . . .’ The implication clearly is that his followers count among their number the rich and well–to-do, the socially accepted, as well as the poor, rejected and persecuted. Jesus rejects the traditional values prevailing in Israel. Material well-being was considered a sign of God’s blessing, happiness was reckoned to consist in a long life and abundant possessions. He opts firmly for the position of the prophets and the poor; one might say the values of ‘protest’. Those who are poor, hungry, sorrowful, rejected here and now on account of the Son of Man, are really the happy ones. This is because true happiness is to be found in heaven. The ‘haves’ are warned, for them there is real danger of becoming enmeshed in the ‘good things’ of this world. Jesus himself is the message of happiness. The blessedness of the kingdom begins from today, it is both present and is to come: it reaches men already in the person of Jesus Christ, the poor one, the type of the persecuted, who along with poverty, took to himself the cause of all the unhappy ones of this world. So it is that in the midst of sufferings and privations the followers of Christ can rejoice and be happy. This is not a contradiction or an anomaly but a deeper happiness, a surer truth. This message is very real today. We live in a world, which is divided not only between rich and poor nations, but where divisions are found within every nation and society. Today’s poor are happy not because they have the prospect of becoming wealthy, but because the kingdom of heaven is promised to them, their hope is in the Lord. Poverty here on earth has taken the place of our lost paradise. Any other attitude is contrary to the teaching of Christ. More than ever, today, the Church must welcome to itself people from every continent, the crowds of the poor, she must remain open to those in need: she offers them union with Christ, provided they offer themselves to God and accept his ways and values.” -Glenstal Bible Missal Blessed Are The Poor…. Years ago there was a movie called ‘Quo Vadis’. It starred Deborah Kerr and dealt with the persecution of Christians in ancient Rome. One day, after a dangerous filming session, a newspaper reporter asked Deborah Kerr “Weren’t you frightened when the lions rushed toward you in arena?” Deborah replied, “Not at all! I’d read the script, and I knew I’d be rescued!” Deborah Kerr’s childlike trust in the stunt men assigned to protect her is a good illustration of the childlike trust that poor people had in God in biblical times. To understand why Jesus dared to call these ‘poor’ people blessed, we need to understand who Jesus had in mind when he referred to the ‘poor’ in his Sermon on the Mount. Mark Link in 'Sunday Homilies' Choosing Christ’s Values Over Worldly Values A true story is told of an old man who moved from a quiet rural farm to the fast-moving New York City. He never really adjusted to the roads moving in all directions. One day, late in the evening, he travelled into the heart of the city to do some shopping, but when walking back to catch his bus everything went pitch black. It took him a few moments to realize that there had been a power failure. There he was, surrounded by children wailing, women crying, horns blowing – a torrent of chaos. The old man stood trembling. How could he possibly cross a road safely without the help of traffic lights? How long would it be before someone attacked him? It was then that someone took his arm and asked where he lived. The old man gave the name of the street. The other began to lead him into the chaos. They safely crossed streets, passed by all signs of danger. When at last they arrived at the old man’s quarters, the old man said: “I don’t understand. How were you able to walk through all this?” “But this is what I do every night,” the other man replied. “You see, I’m blind.” -We can apply that story to say that Jesus is the blind man, leading the despairing from their situation of chaos and fright to their home - which is a place of peace, happiness, and fulfillment in knowing him. We’re to trust, grope about in the dark, and continue to hope, even when there seems to be no hope. Following a crucified Messiah, the lowest of the low, may seem incredible – but it’s no more incredible than following a blind man. Harold Buetow in ‘God still speaks! Listen!’ You Will Be Happy If …. There was a mediaeval king who regularly used the advice of a wise man. This sage was summoned to the king’s presence. The monarch asked him how to get rid of his anxiety and depression of spirits, how he might be really happy, for he was sick in body and mind. The sage replied, ‘There is but one cure for the king. Your Majesty must sleep one night in the shirt of a happy man.’ Messengers were dispatched throughout the realm to search for a man who was truly happy. But everyone who was approached had some cause for misery, something that robbed them of true and complete happiness. At last they found a man – a poor beggar – who sat smiling by the roadside and, when they asked him if he was really happy and had no sorrows, he confessed that he was a truly happy man. Then they told him what they wanted. The king must sleep one night in the shirt of a happy man, and had given them a large sum of money to procure such a shirt. Would he sell them his shirt that the king might wear it? The beggar burst into uncontrollable laughter, and replied, ‘I am sorry I cannot oblige the king. I haven’t a shirt on my back.’ (Anon) May we trust God and find happiness in acquiring his ‘be- attitudes’!! 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. Your Mail works best with the New Yahoo Optimized IE8. Get it NOW! http://downloads.yahoo.com/in/internetexplorer/
