12-Feb-2012 Dear Friend, If someone were to tell us that a desert will bloom or that a man born blind can see, we would be skeptical and doubt that such a thing is possible. Yet faith is the basis of miracles! The impossible becomes possible when we believe. Even more than the external visible miracles, internal changes, forgiveness, and healing are taking place through the power of faith. My deep faith can bring blessings for others. Have a faith-filled weekend! Be a blessing, be the occasion of God's miracle for others! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Seventh Sunday of the Year "You are forgiven! You are made new!" 19-Feb-2012 Readings: Isaiah 43: 18-19 20-22, 24-25 2 Cor. 1: 18-22 Mark 2: 1-12 To understand the first reading from Isaiah, we should recall that the Israelites were in exile. God had allowed this awful misfortune to befall them on account of their sins. Their exile was meant to serve them as a lesson to help them to realize the seriousness of their sins and so to bring them back to God. God inspired a spiritual disciple of Isaiah to write in his name a message from Yahweh to the people in exile. In today's message he exhorts the Israelites to stop dreaming about the past because He will do even greater things for them now than He did in the past. "I will bring you back to Jerusalem, even if you think this is absolutely impossible. Just as I led the Israelites for forty years across the desert, so I will create a path for you across the desert and lead you back to Jerusalem. Our Life Span is His Time and Ours An early Saxon king had to leave his throne in order to calm down a rebellion. After the battle died down, the king set up a candle in the doorway of the castle, where he had his temporary headquarters, he lit the candle and announced to all who had rebelled against him that those who surrendered and took the oath of loyalty while the candle was burning, would be spared. The king offered mercy and clemency only for the life of the candle. Heaven does the same: the candle is our life span. Mgsr. Arthur Tonne In the Gospel we see Jesus carrying on his prime ministry: proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Word went around so that the crowds flocked to hear him in spite of there being no place to enter the house where Jesus was preaching. The gospel tells us that while all this was happening, some people came carrying a paralytic, whom they wished to bring to the Lord for healing. But as there was no way to enter, they climbed onto the roof and lowered the sick man right in front of Jesus. The paralytic did not speak, he did not ask to be healed, but his friends' gesture and faith was sufficient. Jesus was moved by their solidarity, and their faith and he said to the man: "Your sins are forgiven." There could be several insights we could gather from the Gospel of today. Firstly, we see the faith of the friends who bring the paralytic and their perseverance in bringing the man to Jesus. As Christians we are all responsible for our brothers and sisters. The more we live our faith the more open it should make us towards the needs of our brothers and sisters. Our faith can call down God's blessings not only on ourselves but also on others. Secondly, our mission as Christians is to be evangelizers, to bring people to Jesus. In this task there will always be difficulties and obstacles but we should not despair or give up, we need to find ways and means to bring them to Jesus and leave the rest to Him. Thirdly, we see how Jesus goes to the heart of the sick man's real problem. "Your sins are forgiven." What the paralytic perhaps expected was an instant cure to be set free from his paralysis but what Jesus offers him is the opportunity to be set free from what is really keeping him in bondage -his sins. We often look for instant remedies and liberation from the visible and tangible problems that beset us, God desires to free our hearts from that which keeps us in slavery. Do we prefer physical healing to spiritual healing? The instinct to seek physical well-being is very dominant in all of us whereas it can be hard to advert to our need for spiritual healing and renewal. Jesus faced a similar difficulty in his time. People were attracted by his miracle and flocked to be healed. As we read in today's gospel, men went so far as to take the roof off a house to get their paralysed friend into his presence. Their efforts were rewarded. But as soon as Jesus went on to teach that his miracles were meant to lead to faith in him, he ran into opposition immediately. Something similar happens in our lives. In times of illness, we plead with God. When he offers spiritual healing in persevering prayer, in the Eucharist, we are less than enthusiastic. The instinct to make care of the soul a priority is a weak one. It needs to be supported by disciplined commitment, shared faith and joyful celebration in love. Otherwise, we remain spiritual paralytics. Tom Clancy in 'Living the Word' God Does not Remember >From the Middle Ages comes this legend about a nun who claimed that she had a >vision of Christ. The bishop asked, "Sister, did you talk to him?" And she >said "Yes, I did." He continued, "If you have another vision, ask Christ this >question: "What was the bishop's greatest sin before he became bishop?" About >three months later, the nun came to see the bishop. "Did you see the Lord >again?" asked the bishop. "'Yes', she replied." "Did you ask him the question >about my sin?" "Yes, I did." And what did he say?" She smiled and answered, >"The Lord said, 'I don't remember anymore.'" When we recall the number of >times God has forgiven our sins, big and small, we can only thank him in the >words of Addison: "When all thy mercies, O my God, my rising soul surveys, >transported with the view, I am lost in wonder, Love and praise!" Anonymous Bring the Person to Jesus One of the most brilliant men who ever lived was St. Augustine. He was a teacher of rhetoric; and he taught young lawyers the art of debating. Financially he was well off, but spiritually he was poor. In his autobiography he himself confesses, he had a group of rowdy friends and led a very intemperate life. He had a son although he was not married. He had a Christian mother, but he was not a Christian; in fact he was writing against Christianity. His mother Monica perceived that her son Augustine was on the wrong way, yet she could not argue with him. She knew that he was sick spiritually, yet she could not heal him. But she knew the One who could heal him of his spiritual sickness; Augustine wouldn't go to the Healer himself. His intellect was paralyzed. His morals were inverted. She took her son Augustine night and day with tears and prayers to the Divine Healer Jesus. Jesus saw her faith and healed her son at the age of thirty-one. St. Augustine renounced sins, took up his pallet and walked healthy in the sight of God for the rest of his life. Augustine's mother - Monica brought him into the presence of Christ and got him healed. In today's gospel something similar happened. A paralytic was brought to Jesus by four of his friends and he got healed. As the church owes Monica the conversion of St. Augustine, so the paralytic owes to the four friends his healing; it is they who brought him to Jesus. John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' The Binding Wire The book God's Smuggler tells the story of a Dutch Missionary named Brother Andrew. This missionary took upon himself the job of smuggling Bibles into communist countries. Before his smuggling days, Brother Andrew did a hitch in the Dutch Army in Indonesia. One day he bought a young monkey for a pet. Soon he noticed that the monkey was very sensitive around the waist. Upon closer inspection he noticed a welt around the monkey's midsection. He laid the animal down, pulled back the matter hair around the welt, and saw what was causing the problem. When the monkey was a baby someone had tied a wire around its middle and never taken it off. As the monkey grew larger, the wire embedded itself in the monkey's flesh. That evening Andrew began the task of carefully removing the wire. Using a safety razor, he shaved the hair around the wire, then he painstakingly cut the wire from the animal's flesh. All the while, the monkey lay there with amazing patience, blinking its eyes. As soon as the operation was over, the monkey jumped up and down, leaped on Andrew's shoulder and hugged him. The removal of the wire set the monkey free. -The paralyzed man in today's gospel must have felt the same way when Jesus spoke over him those healing words: "Your sins are forgiven" He too was set free from something that had held him bound and in pain. The removal of his sins and his paralysis freed him, just as the removal of the wire freed the monkey. The paralytic too, was so happy he at once began to praise God. Mark Link in 'Sunday Homilies' Try Forgiveness The Duke of Wellington was about to pronounce the death sentence on a confirmed deserter. Deeply moved, the great General said, "I am extremely sorry to pass this severe sentence, but we have tried everything and all the discipline and penalties have tailed to improve this man who is otherwise a brave and a good soldier." Then he gave the man's comrades an opportunity to speak for him. "Please, your Excellency," said one of the men, "there is one thing you have never tried. You have not tried forgiving him." The General forgave him and it worked: the soldier never again deserted and ever after showed not only gratitude to the Iron Duke, but also he became his friend. As the saying goes, 'Friendship flourishes at the fountain of forgiveness." Vima Dasan in 'His word Lives' Healed by Other's Faith We had been in the prayer-room that morning. It was now after lunch. There was a knock on my office door, and one of the senior girls came in, closed the door, and began to sob. I gave her plenty of time to express whatever it was that was upsetting her. When she was ready, she began to speak. Her mother was in hospital with suspected cancer, and all of the family was in total despair at the possible outcome. The girl had been in the prayer room that morning, and she brought Jesus to the side of her mother's bed. She imagined him placing his hand on her mother's head. Jesus then took her mother by the hand, and raised her up out of the bed. She hadn't thought any more about it, until she went home for her lunch, and found her mother in the kitchen! At the time she had been praying in the prayer-room, the doctor had come to her mother to confirm that their worst suspicions were unfounded, that she was clear, and was free to go home. This daughter experienced what Jesus did in today's gospel. Jack McArdle in 'And That the Gospel Truth'. May we expect miracles and experience them through His power and mercy!
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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
