17-Jul-2011 Dear friend,
All of us are forced to make choices every day of our life. Some decisions are easy and of no great consequence, but others can be life-threatening and if wrong, can change the direction of our life. If we make small choices wisely the big ones will take care of themselves. To be happy our choices should be God and other-focused rather than self-focused, spiritually centred rather than materially oriented. Paradoxically, the more we give the more we get! Have an enjoyable 'giving-weekend'! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Seventeenth Sunday- "Be like God, the joyful, generous giver!" 24-Jul-2011 1 Kings 3: 5-12 Romans 8: 28-30 Matthew 13: 44-52 In today's first reading from the Book of Kings we are told that Solomon, when he was to be made king of Israel, was asked to make a choice by God. Instead of asking for wealth and material possessions Solomon prayed for the gift of wisdom, and an understanding heart, so that he could govern his people wisely. God was so pleased with his choice that he blessed him not only with the gift of wisdom but granted him wealth and treasures as well. In our understanding a wise person is often equated with one who utters wise sayings, in the Bible wisdom has to do with the right, and the wise way to live. God is in Charge Henry Ford (1863-1947) was an American motor manufacturer. He pioneered large-scale motor production. He is the founder of the Ford Motor Company. A man, who went to interview him when he was eighty-seven years old, was surprised to find him calm and serene. The interviewer asked him, "Sir, are you not worried in your life? So many problems you have to face everyday. So many workers you have to deal with. Don't you feel the strain on yourself?" Henry Ford replied, "No! I am not worried. I believe that God is managing the affairs and He doesn't need my advice. With God in charge, I believe that everything will work for the best in the end." All things work for good for those who love God. John Rose in 'John's Sunday Stories' In the Gospel, Jesus describes the Kingdom of God through parables. In the first parable the kingdom of God is compared to a man who finds a treasure hidden in a field and sells everything he has in order to own it. Likewise, the kingdom is compared to a man who is searching for rare pearls and when he finds one he is ready to give up everything he owns to acquire the pearl of rare value. The two parables differ in one circumstance. The treasure is something uncovered quite by accident, whereas the pearl is found after deliberate pursuit and searching. Whichever way it comes to light, one must be ready to sacrifice everything in order to call it one's own. There is no such thing as cheap grace or faith, it comes with a price. In other words, the kingdom of God is worth everything we have. Those who find it are truly fortunate, even if in the eyes of the world they appear foolish, in the eyes of God they are rich. The kingdom of God means to know the meaning of life, and how to live it. The chief task of life is not to be successful or even fulfilled. It is knowing how best to live in this world. Those who find the answer to this question have found the pearl of great price. The pearl of great price is not something we find outside ourselves but something within ourselves, which we discover with faith. Searching and Finding Challenging times face the young. Opportunities for new exciting experiences are part of their lifestyle. Travel, study, music, sport, service, technology, religious exploration and the relationship revolution all have the potential to enrich young lives. Lack of jobs, manipulative pressure, uncertainty about values, changing attitudes to faith and family, absence of engaging role models, and substance abuse endanger the core of human maturity and happiness. Choices facing the young today are stark with life-long consequences stretching into eternity. It is in these choices that the young must find God. Finding always implies a willingness to search. Past conventions on their own are an inadequate foundation for living present day commitments. But faith and fidelity, truth and trust, family and forgiveness, integrity and idealism, endurance and example, sensitivity and service are as essential now as they ever were. It is through living out these values daily that the pearl of great price of this weekend's gospel is found. There is no other way. Searching for a fix for instant happiness is futile. Cheap offers of fulfilment are not bargains. The real treasure is believing that one is made for permanent love, giving it and receiving it from God and from one another, and living accordingly. It is the one thing worth giving one's life to. To enable the young to search and find this treasure is the challenge facing all of us today. Tom Clancy in 'Living the Word' All Things Will Work Out Well Dale Carnegie came from a poor, but God fearing family. His father was a farmer and his mother was a village school teacher. They never had enough food to eat or clothes to wear. They were always in debt. Once, his father borrowed money from the bank for cultivation. Unfortunately, that year was a flood and their crops were washed away. They neither had food to eat nor money to repay the bank. The bankers began to harass them. His father began to worry. He worked sixteen hours a day in the field, yet he felt no hunger; he began to lose weight. The doctor told his wife that he had barely six months to live. His mother was concerned. Whenever he went to the farm to feed the horses and milk the cows, and did not come home early, she would go in search of him, fearing him hanging on some tree. One day, when his father was returning from the farm, the bankers met him on the road and threatened him with dire consequences if he failed to repay the loan. On his way back, he stood on the bridge-looked down at the water, contemplating suicide. Later, he told his son that the only reason he did not commit suicide was because of his wife's staunch, deep, abiding and joyous belief that if we loved God and kept His commandments, everything would come out all right in the end. And he said that his mother was right. Everything came out well in the end. His father lived happily for forty-two years after that incident. John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' The Treasure Within There was this poor tailor who lived in Krakow. One night he had a dream in which a voice said to him, "If you go to Prague and dig beneath a certain tree behind the emperor's castle, you will find a great treasure." He set out the very next day for Prague. However, when he got there, unable to get across the bridge, he lived under it for a while. While there he became friends with the captain of the guard. One day he shared his dream with him. "You're a very foolish man," said the captain. "You shouldn't believe that sort of thing. I have dreams myself. Once I had a dream that over in Krakow there lived a poor but wise tailor, not unlike yourself. I dreamt that if I went to his house and dug behind his stove, I would find a treasure that somebody had buried there a long time ago. Of course, I dismissed it as foolishness." The tailor thanked him, went back home, dug beneath his own hearth, and found the treasure. Flor McCarthy in 'New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies' Hidden Treasures Ron Del Bene was searching for answers in his life. Someone told him about a man in Los Angeles who has a reputation for being a very wise spiritual guide. On a business trip to the west coast Ron made an appointment to see this wise man. All he could think about was the upcoming meeting with the one who surely had the Answer. He drove up the coast only to discover on arrival that the man was not there. The longer he waited the angrier he became. Finally the man arrived: "I don't know which was greater, my anger or my disappointment," Ron remembers. "This short, slightly built person didn't look at all like the wise man I had pictured. He didn't even have a beard!"...Ron thought perhaps the teacher would place his hands on my head or heart and I will explode in ecstasy. But Ron didn't. The wise teacher simply rattled off three things Ron should do. Before Ron had a chance to respond or ask any questions the Wise One left the room, Ron felt disappointed and disillusioned. He had travelled all that way and for what? After Ron returned home, his wife, Eleanor, asked him about his meeting with the guru. She listened intensely to her husband's every word. "He told me that there are three things I must do," Ron said. "One, pray unceasingly. Two, go home and love my wife and children. Three, do what needs to be done." Eleanor looked straight at Ron and said, "Thank God, Someone finally told you that!" What the teacher told was true. "In retrospect," Ron writes, the teacher "was a far wiser man than I appreciated at the time." -Application: Our greatest treasure is at home: our family. Do our daily acts reflect this? Gerard Fuller in 'Stories for all Seasons' The Coach's Question Some time ago a magazine ran a story about teenagers who belong to the Santa Clara Swimming Club. Every morning they get up at 5:30 and hurry through the chilly air to an outdoor pool. There they swim for two solid hours. After a shower and a quick bite to eat, they hurry off to school. After school they return to the pool to swim for two more hours. At 5:00 they hurry home, hit the schoolbooks, eat a late supper, and fall into bed exhausted. The next morning the alarm rings at 5:30 and they start the whole thing all over again. When asked why they should follow such a disciplined schedule, one girl said, "My only goal is to make the Olympic team. If going to parties hurts that, then why go? There is no such thing as too much work. The more miles I swim, the better. Sacrifice is the thing." Mark Link in 'Sunday Homilies' May we make choices wisely, unmindful of the cost! 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.
