17-Apr-2011 Dear Friend,
When we think or talk about love we get sentimental and emotional about it. We recall people who have loved us and relish the experience. But love is more than just a cosy, comfortable feeling! Love is a two-way street. It is not only receiving and expecting to be loved but giving and sharing and serving others. There is a cost in loving and caring for others, a readiness to love without limit. Are we ready to love or only to be loved? Let's pray on this Holy Thursday to be ready to serve with love! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Maundy Thursday -'If I have washed your feet, do likewise!' 21-Apr-2011 Exodus 12: 1-8, 11-14; 1 Cor. 11: 23-26; John 13: 1-15; The Book of Exodus tells us how Yahweh ordered the Israelites to keep the Paschal meal. Each family had to kill a lamb and smear the doorpost of their house with the blood of the lamb. The meal had to be eaten standing to signify their readiness to pass from the land of slavery to the land of freedom. It would also signify the passing of the angel of the Lord over the houses of the Israelites marked by the blood of the lamb. To remember this Passover from generation to generation, Yahweh ordered the Israelites to keep a feast, the Feast of the Passover. The lamb sacrificed was eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Our celebration reminds us that we are called to pass from the slavery of sin to the freedom of the children of God; It recalls the fact the God has passed over our sins, Faith is remembering what matters! Don't Forget What Really Matters! Carl Coleman was driving to work one morning when he bumped fenders with another motorist. Both cars stopped, and the woman driving the other car got out to survey the damage. She was distraught. It was her fault she admitted, and hers was a new car, less than two days from the show room. She dreaded facing her husband. Coleman was sympathetic; but he had to pursue the exchange of license and registration data. She reached into her glove compartment to retrieve the documents in an envelope. On the first paper to tumble out, written in her husband's distinctive hand, were the words: "In case of accident, remember, Honey, it's you I love, not the car." Paul Harvey in 'Stories of the Heart' While the focus of the celebration tonight is on the Eucharist, the Gospel is that of Jesus' washing his disciples feet and commanding the disciples to wash one another's feet as he had done. John wrote his gospel more than fifty years after the last supper had taken place, however, he did not narrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist. His Christians not only knew about the Last Supper but they celebrated the Eucharist every Sunday. But John wanted to remind the Christians of the central point of Jesus' teaching, his new commandment: "Love one another as I have loved you." John was very keen that all Christians should learn that the celebration of the Eucharist should lead us to practice Jesus' command of loving service. To drive home this message he tells us how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples during the Last Supper. No other Gospel narrates this event. The setting for Jesus' symbolic action is his last Passover meal. Jesus loved his own and "he loved them to the very end." Jesus' self emptying love urges him to offer his disciples the cleansing touch of water and the loving touch of his hands. The Gospel themes of water and washing will be taken up again during the Easter vigil and linked with the baptismal themes of regeneration and new life. Today's gospel invites us to be like Jesus in deeds of service. Living the Word Every week shows that people without hope die in despair. A society without hope degenerates into fear and violence. Who can help us to overcome the hopelessness of our time? only the person who is prepared to light a candle of goodness at every opportunity rather than curse the darkness of evil. Only the person who daily takes that first small step in building a chain of goodness; Only that person who believes that oftentimes a majority for hope is just one individual with faith and courage; Only the person who knows that in giving away time, energy and even life itself, that one comes to experience lasting love, human and divine. It is only such a person that can create new life and joy in today's world. The greatest exemplar of such living and leadership is the Lord Jesus Christ. Tom Clancy in 'Living the Word' A Walking Sermon One afternoon in 1953, reporters and officials gathered at a Chicago railroad station to await the arrival of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winner. He stepped off the train - a giant of a man, six-feet-four, with bushy hair and a large moustache. As cameras flashed, city officials approached with hands outstretched and began telling him how honoured they were to meet him. He thanked them politely and then, looking over their heads, asked if he could be excused for a moment. He walked through the crowd with quick strides until he reached the side of an elderly black woman who was struggling as she tried to carry two large suitcases. He picked up the bags in his big hands and, smiling, escorted the woman to a bus. As he helped her aboard, he wished her a safe journey. Meanwhile, the crowd tagged along behind him. He turned to them and said, "Sorry to have kept you waiting." The man was Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the famous missionary-doctor, who had spent his life helping the poorest of the poor in Africa. A member of the reception committee said to the reporters: "That's the first time I ever saw a sermon walking." Brian Cavanaugh in 'The Sower's Seeds' A Hero's Compassion Bob Greene, a columnist for the Chicago tribune, relates that one cold night after a game, Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan headed through a large crowd of fans towards his car. As he opened the car door, Jordan saw a youngster in a wheelchair some 20 feet away. The boy's neck was bent at an unnatural angle; his eyes could not look directly forward. Jordan walked over to the boy and knelt beside him. The youngster was so excited that he began to rise out of the wheelchair. Michael comforted him, talked softly, and put his arm around the boy's frail shoulder. The boy's father tried to snap a picture, but the camera didn't work. Jordan noticed. Without being asked, he continued to kneel at the boy's side until the father was able to take the picture. Only then did Michael return to his car. The boy's eyes were glistening with tears of joy. His dad was already replaying the moment with his son. If nothing good even happens again for that little boy, he will always know that on one night Michael Jordan cared enough to include him in his world. Brian Cavanaugh in 'The Sower's Seeds' Love Transforms There was a monastery in a remote village. The monks were very few and very old. The head of the monastery - the abbot, was also an old man. One day, as he were talking, the abbot's friend said to him, "Father, you seem to be very sad, May I know the reason?" "You are right my friend," said the abbot, "In the monastery all the monks are very old like me. These days we are not getting any younger men aspiring for the monastic life. I fear that after some time, there may not be any more monks." After listening to the abbot's story, the man said, "Dear father! I don't know who is going to carry on the monastery after some time; but this I am certain: one of you is JESUS." The abbot was surprised at this remark, and he asked him, "Tell me. Who is Jesus among us?" Then the man replied, "That I don't know, but one among you is Jesus." The abbot came back to the monastery and shared the conversation of his friend with his confreres. All were equally taken up with this thought: one among them was Jesus. The abbot thought that his assistant who was a holy man might be Jesus and began to treat him with love and respect. The assistant thought that the former novice Master might be Jesus and he began to treat him with reverence and love. Each thought that the other was Jesus and started treating him with love, compassion and reverence. A few months later, a group of college students came to visit the monastery. When they saw the selfishness, love and reverence among the monks for each other, they marveled at them. A few days later, one of the students came and joined the monastery. Eventually, the fame of the monastery spread far and wide. Many people started joining it, and once again started to flourish. Love brought life to a dying monastery. Love transformed a dying community into a vibrant one. Love is a powerful force. John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' Are You Jesus? Several years ago a group of salesman went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday's supper. One thing led to another and the meeting ran overtime so the men had to race to the airport, tickets in hand. As they barged through the terminal, one man inadvertently kicked over a table supporting a basket of apples. Without stopping they all reached the plane in time and boarded it with a sigh of relief. All but one. He paused, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple-stand had been overturned. He waved goodbye to his companions and returned to the terminal. He was glad he did. The ten-year old girl was blind. The salesman gathered up the apples and noticed that several of them were battered and bruised. He reached into his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take these ten dollars for the damage we did. I hope it didn't spoil your day." As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered girl called out to him, "Are you Jesus?" He stopped in mid-stride. And he wondered. Brian Cavanaugh in 'The Sower's Seeds' May we, like Jesus, love to serve our brothers and sisters! 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.
