7-Aug-2011 Dear Friend,
Whether we admit it or not we all live in our own little world, we tend to exclude others, while at the same time desiring to be included in exclusive groups. We think in terms of 'we' and 'they', we act on our prejudices. We are the 'good guys' and they are the bad ones! Obviously, we believe that God is on our side and not with them! Yet God is a God for all, with all, and is ever inclusive. He has no favourites for all his favoured ones! Have a joyful weekend finding God among all peoples! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Twentieth Sunday-"Breaking down barriers, building bridges!" 14-Aug-2011 Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7 Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32 Matthew 15: 21-28 In today's first reading from Isaiah, the prophet is writing to the Jews of his time, who were loosing some of their enthusiasm after their return from exile. They were becoming more and more prejudicial towards others. They considered themselves as the privileged ones and all the rest had to be excluded. Instead of building bridges of friendship they were erecting walls of prejudice as barriers to exclude others. Isaiah confronted his people's closed attitude and welcomed every one. He called God's house a house of prayer for all peoples. "The foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, .. them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples. All are Welcome! One day, it seems, a certain curious person in heaven asked St. Peter "How many Hindus are in heaven?" Peter replied: "No Hindus". Then he asked: "How many Muslims?" "Not even one," replied Peter. The man was surprised. He said: "Oh, then, there are only Christians in heaven?" "No, there are no Christians in heaven either," replied Peter. "How Many Catholics?" "No, Catholics either." Then St. Peter said, "Heaven is not meant for any particular group of people. Here, there is no distinction between Hindus, Muslims or Christians for all are welcome in heaven." What else could St. Peter have said? Did not God tell his chosen people, referring to the temple in Jerusalem which was a symbol of heaven for them; "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." Vima Dasan in 'His Word Lives' In the Gospel we see Jesus withdrawing to the region of Tyre and Sidon to be away from the public gaze, to spend some quiet time with his disciples. But a woman who is from this 'pagan' area, desperate because her daughter is seriously ill, takes the chance of coming to this stranger, Jesus, for help. "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." The response of Jesus seems to be rather strange; he did not say a word to her. When Jesus does speak to her he rejects her plea. "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Even this rebuff does not dissuade the woman. She will not give up. "Lord, please help me." Again she meets with rejection from Jesus and the words he uses would be enough to take offense. "It is not right to take the food of children and throw it to the dogs." But the woman, instead of being offended by Jesus' remark is quick with her repartee: "Please, Lord, even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." At this persistence Jesus is greatly touched. Her faith is so strong that indifference, rejection and apparent ridicule will not swerve her from her need to have her daughter cured by Jesus. "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done as you wish." The woman's daughter was healed at that very moment, thanks to her loving concern for her daughter and her faith that would not give in. Reaching Beyond At all times and in most places there are people who find themselves on the edge, who do not quite belong, who do not get their share, who are deprived and in need. In our time, there are people like the homeless, the handicapped, the travellers, the uneducated are often marginalised. In Christ's time, the Canaanites were one of the marginalised groupings. As descendants of a pagan tribe, they were utterly despised by the Jews. So when a Caananite woman came to the true Jew, Christ, to heal her daughter, she knew that she was reaching across the great divide. The reception she got at first did not encourage her but she persevered. Somehow, she knew that he cared for her sick child. As we read in today's gospel, her trust was not misplaced and Christ cared for her daughter. In our time, the brave reach out for justice for the marginalised. They hope that under the current malaise of greed and grasping there is a Christ like generosity. May their courage on behalf of the needy, and their trust in the better off, always evoke a response worthy of followers of Christ. Tom Clancy in 'Living the Word' Do you want to believe? In the book The Brothers Karamazov Dostoevski refers to an old woman whose spiritual health begins to deteriorate as rapidly as her physical health. One day she discusses her problem with an old priest, named Fr. Zossima. She tells him about her weak faith and the doubts she is beginning to have: Is there a God who cares? Is there life after death? Fr. Zossima listens compassionately and says: "There's no way to prove these things, but you can become more sure of them." 'How?' cries the old woman. 'By love,' says the old priest. 'Try to love your neighbour from the heart. The more you love, the surer you will become about God's existence and life after death. The more you love, the stronger your faith will grow and the weaker your doubts will become. This is sure. This has been tried. This works." Albert Schweitzer, the great missionary doctor, makes the same point in his book Reverence for Life. He says something to this effect: "Do you want to believe in Jesus? Do you really want to believe in him? Then you must do something for him. In this age of doubt there is no other way. If for his sake you give someone something to eat, or drink, or wear - which Jesus promised to bless as though it were done to him- then you will see that you really did it for him. Jesus will reveal himself to you, as one who is alive." Mark Link in 'Sunday Homilies' Holier Than Thou A gentleman was boasting about the superiority of Catholicism and the holiness of his priests to a Hindu and Muslim friend. Debating at the crossroads, they spied a sadhu going into a brothel. "Saw that?" sneered the Catholic, "Our priests won't be seen there!" Minutes later, a mullah covered his face with his shawl and entered the brothel too. The Catholic remarked, "Ah, ha, mullahs are no better than sadhus!" Just then the parish priest also slyly entered the brothel. The Catholic sighed sanctimoniously, 'I wonder which of those girls is sick and in need of sacraments!' Strangely, 'we' are always holier than 'they', just as Pharisees in Jesus' time claimed superiority over Gentiles. Francis Gonsalves in 'Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds' Perseverance Once, during a particularly severe winter in the Arctic, all but two people in a certain camp died of starvation. The two survivors were an Eskimo woman and her baby. The woman began a desperate search for some means of obtaining food. Eventually she found a small fish-hook. It was a simple matter to rig a line, but she had no bait, and no hope of getting bait. Without a moment's hesitation she took a knife and cut a piece of flesh from her thigh. Using this as bait she caught a fish. She fed her child and herself, saving the fish gut for bait. She lived on fish until spring when she walked out of the camp and found some other people. What kept the mother alive was her concern for her child. We see another wonderful example of this in today's Gospel story. There we see the unshakeable determination of a mother. She just refused to be put off or to give up. How delighted she must have been when Jesus finally answered her prayer. It meant that all her trouble, all her begging, all her embarrassment, had not been in vain. Flor McCarthy in 'New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies' Drifting The story is told of a little boy who was floating his boat on a pond when the boat drifted away. A man came by, saw the boat drifting on the pond, and began throwing stones on the far side of the boat. The boy asked, "What are you doing? Why are you throwing stones? My boat will sink!" But then something very interesting happened. As the stones hit the water beyond the boat, they created ripples, which pushed the boat back towards the boy. Even though the stones disturbed the smooth water, they achieved the desired result. -That's how it is with God sometimes. When we drift away from Him, He throws the disturbing stones out beyond us in order to push us back to the shore of His love. Tony Evans - From 'Stories for the Heart' Can we go beyond the obvious? A Franciscan Sister of Mercy, herself a Croat who grew up in Serbia, had been working with rape victims of Bosnia as well as trying to find housing for the many refugees. Dressed in her nun's habit, she goes to a door and pleads with those who answer, "I have no place to stay. I'm hungry. Can you take me in?" Croatia is deeply Catholic country, so the answer to the nun's plea is almost always, "Of course, Sister." Then the nun steps back to let the real refugees with her be seen. They are usually taken in by the family. -Application: Can we go beyond our prejudices? Gerard Fuller in 'Stories for all Seasons' May we break down barriers and build bridges with all, as God's people! 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.
