18-Mar-2012 Dear Friend, No one likes the thought of suffering and we do not like to face death, though we know we will die one day. Yet, without death there is no new life. We see this happening in nature as well. In winter nature seems to be dying, trees are leafless and all that we see are bare branches and yet from these dead branches new life springs forth. Death gives way to life. With God's help may we experience new life through the many moments of pain and death! Have a life-giving God experience! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Fifth Sunday of Lent "Progress, growth towards God has a price tag! 25-Mar-2012 Readings: Jeremiah 31: 31-34 Hebrews 5: 7-9 John 12: 20-23 In the first reading the prophet Jeremiah sounds a note of hope. To the people in exile he reveals God's promise - "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. I will be their God and they shall be my people. I will forgive their iniquity and never call their sin to mind." Today's passage provides comfort to the people in the midst of his gloomy predictions. The salvation history of the chosen people was a long list of broken promises. But God had made a covenant through Moses and had given them the Law as a sign of that covenant. But now the law instead of being a sign of life was a series of strict rules, which did not necessarily have any relationship with God. The comforting part was the fact that Yahweh was going to make a New Covenant in the new and final age of salvation. God's Spiritual Big Bang Many scientists subscribe to the "big bang" theory to explain the origin of the universe. Some fifteen or twenty billion years ago, they theorize, all matter and energy of the universe were concentrated into a space smaller than the head of a pin. When the density became intolerably intense, there was an explosion which propelled matter into a constantly expanding space. Leaving aside any judgement about the correctness of this theory within the providence of God, the truth is that there was a spiritual big bang less than two thousand years ago. All of God's love was concentrated in a single action. His love was so intense that it exploded with such force that it was propelled outward in a great sphere, moving not only forward but even backward in time. That action was the death and resurrection of God's Son. God's big bang is not a theory. It is a profound reality which we call the Paschal Mystery. Charles Miller in 'Sunday Preaching' In today's Gospel we are told that a small group of Greeks came to John and expressed their desire to meet Jesus personally. "They wanted to see Jesus", to enquire perhaps if they could become his disciples. Andrew knew that no one who desired to meet Jesus would be a bother and so they approached him. Jesus begins by stating that "Now the hour has come for the son of Man to be glorified." Earlier at Cana he had said to his mother: "My hour has not yet come." Later he had said that "an hour is coming." But now he openly stated "that hour had come for the son of man to be glorified." Jesus' message here is the same as the message in all of Lent, the way to glory for Jesus and for all of us, is death to self. Only through death would come resurrection. Jesus reminded his listeners that this was the law of life, the law of nature itself: unless the seed dies and is buried in the ground, it cannot bear fruit. It is when we are prepared to die that our lives become fruitful beyond measure. Jesus also reminds his followers that his way of thinking and living was in sharp contrast with what society believes as the norm. The image we have of a successful person is one who has all the things of life in abundance and more than the person needs. Jesus challenges such a way of living. "Anyone who loves his life will lose it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." Spelling out his form of discipleship he states: "If anyone serves me he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too." It is not enough to be Jesus fans, admiring what he has done for us, we become his followers when we try to live like him and for him. For Jesus the hour of being lifted up on the cross was also the hour of being lifted up in glory. "And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to my self." All who share in being lifted up on their crosses will also be lifted up in glory in and through Him. The Seed that Dies Grows As spring slips by, it is fascinating to watch where daffodils grow. Often it is in some unlikely corner which a few weeks ago looked barren and neglected. Yet in that spot, despite appearances, the daffodil bulbs lay hidden but alive in the damp cold soil covered, perhaps by last autumn's still decaying leaves. In such an unwelcoming seed bed, the bulbs germinated, sent out new shoots and grew into something beautiful for us and for God. If they were kept safely clean, warm and dry on a shelf they would eventually shrivel up and die. Instead because they were entrusted to such an apparently hostile environment, they had the opportunity to bloom, multiply and enrich their surroundings. Such is the process of all seed sowing and harvesting. It is this imagery that Jesus uses in today's gospel to teach us that he had to suffer the horror of Calvary to bring new life to the world. It is so difficult to grasp and appreciate why the gracious Christ endured such suffering and death. But he tells us that without a hidden germinating period, a period perhaps of pain and disappointment there can never be an abundant harvest. So too it is in our lives. We must continue to sow seeds of goodness and generously even where they seem to be unwanted and ignored, yet believing that one day they will bear fruit a hundredfold. Tom Clancy in 'Living the Word' Let It Be Several years ago Catherine Marshall wrote an article called "When We Dare to Trust God." It told how she had been bedridden for six months with a serious lung infection. No amount of medicine or prayer helped. She was terribly depressed. One day someone gave her a pamphlet about a woman missionary who had contracted a strange disease. The missionary had been sick for eight years and couldn't understand why God let this tragedy happen to her. Daily she prayed for health to resume her missionary work. But her prayers went unanswered. One day, in desperation, she cried out to God: "All right, I give up. If you want to be an invalid, that's your business." Within two weeks the missionary was fully recovered. Catherine Marshall laid the pamphlet aside. She was puzzled by the strange story. It didn't make sense. "Yet," she said, "I could not forget the story." Then one morning Catherine cried out to God in words similar to those of the missionary: "God, I'm tired of asking you for health. You decide if you want me sick or healthy." At that moment, Catherine said later, her health began to return. Mark Link in 'Sunday Homilies' Dying that Others May Live The story of Maximilian Kolbe is well-known. He was a Franciscan priest in Poland, and he was in a concentration camp during the Second World War. Some prisoners had escaped, and the authorities were determined that this should not happen again. For every prisoner that escaped they picked a prisoner out of the group, and that person was condemned to die. By doing this, they would strike fear into the hearts of the other prisoners, and thus discourage any further escapes. After one young man was picked out, someone who had a wife and young family back home, Maximilian stepped forward and offered to take his place. The soldiers were shocked at this, but they took him upon his offer, and the young man returned to the group. Maximilian died in a horrible fashion, as they were locked in cages and left there to starve to death. All during that time he encouraged the others, and inspired them with his prayers. He was canonized some years ago. The most touching part of the whole ceremony was the presence of an old man near the main altar in St. Peter's Square, with tears rolling down his cheeks throughout the whole ceremony. He was the man whom Maximilian had saved, and he had lived to witness this wonderful day. I think that he would understand today's gospel, and that death would no longer have any fears for him. Jack McArdle in 'And That the Gospel Truth'. Death to Life In the movie The Poseidon Adventure, a ship is turned upside down by a tidal wave. Under the leadership of a priest passenger, a small group of passengers makes an incredible struggle for survival. Several members of this group die during this adventure, including the priest himself. However, it was his heroism that inspired the passengers who did survive to persevere. His death became the source of their escape to life. Death leading to life is one of the themes of today's gospel. Jesus says: "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit." Albert Cylwicki in 'His Word Resounds' Fix Your Mind on Jesus The painting of Christ by Muncakszy was exhibited in Canada, at Toronto. A wild, rough, wicked looking sailor same to see it. He entered the room, at the time of the day when there were no others inside; and paying his money to the woman who sat inside the room, he came in and stood for a moment looking at the canvas, thought he would glance at it and go away. But as he looked he could not turn. He stood there with his eyes fixed on the central figure of majesty and love. In a few minutes he took off his hat and let it fall on the floor. A few minutes later, he sat down upon a seat, and there he reached down and picked up a book that described the picture, and began to read, and every few seconds his eyes would turn towards the canvas, and towards the picture of Christ. The lady, who sat by the door, saw him lift up his hand and wipe away the tears. He continued sitting, till five, ten, fifteen, sixty minutes went away; and he sat there as though he could not stir. At last he rose, and, coming softly and reverently towards the door, he hesitated, to take one last look, and said to the woman sat there: "Madam, I am a rough, wicked sailor. I have never believed in Christ; I have never used His name except in an oath; but I have a Christian mother, and my old mother begged me today, before I went to the sea, to go and look at the picture of Christ. To oblige her I said I would go. I did not believe that any one believed in Christ; but as I looked at that form, and that face, I have thought that some man who believed in Jesus must have painted that picture; and it has touched me, and I have come to believe in Him, too. I am going out this time to be a believer in Jesus Christ and a follower of Him." John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' May we discover that in dying to selfishness we live for God!
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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
