4-Aug-2012 Dear Friend,
While it is true that we have to eat in order to live, we also have the experience of being so touched and moved by the words and communication of someone who is dear to us, or with listening to a person whose words make sense in our lives that we do not feel the need of food. Meaningful communication can make us feel full and complete. However our daily experience also reveals that words can be empty and hollow talk. God’s word is different. It is powerful and can change our lives if we believe! Have a listening and nourishing weekend! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Nineteenth Sunday of the Year “We must feed on the Word of God” 12-Aug-2012 Readings: 1 Kings: 19: 4-8 Eph. 4: 30 - 5: 2 John 6: 41-51 Today’s reading speaks about an episode in the life of the Elijah when he is on the run fearing Queen Jezebel, who is bent on killing him in revenge for the four hundred false prophets Elijah had shamed and killed on Mount Carmel. In spite of the many powerful deeds of Yahweh, and the revelation of his power at work through Elijah, the prophet is discouraged and begs God to take his life. He lies down under a bush to sleep, begging God to end his life. But God sends an angel with food and drink twice to strengthen him on his journey to Sinai to meet Yahweh. After Yahweh speaks to Elijah on the mountain he is strengthened and returns to his mission to Israel. Giving up or going on One day a partially deaf boy came home from school with a note from his teacher. He handed it to his mother. She opened it and slowly read it. The note suggested that her son was too dull to learn. He was holding back the whole class. It would be better for everybody if he would withdraw from school. When the boy’s mother finished reading the note, she felt awful. She also felt challenged. “My son, Tom, is not too dull to learn,” she said to herself. “I’ll teach him myself.” When Tom died many years later, the entire nation honoured him in a remarkable way. At exactly 9:59 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, every home in the United States turned off its lights for one minute, as a tribute to the man who had invented those lights. Thomas Edison invented not only the electric light but also the movie projector and the record player. When he died, the boy who was ‘too dull to learn’ had over a thousand patents to his credit, thanks to his mother who never gave up. Mark Link in ‘Journey’ Last Sunday, we listened to Jesus teaching in the synagogue of Capernaum on the day following the multiplication of the loaves and the fish. He said in so many words: “I am the nourishment of those who believe in me; I become so through their faith in me.” In today’s gospel Jesus goes on to explain further his teaching: “You must feed on God’s Word; I become your nourishment when you do so, for I am that Word.” Jesus came to reveal the Father’s plan in a much more clearer way then any one had done before. Jesus was therefore God’s messenger but Jesus besides being the messenger was also the Word of God himself. In other words, whenever we are nourished by God’s Word, it is Jesus himself who becomes our nourishment. In today’s gospel Jesus stresses that the Word of God is for us Christians, a food we cannot do without. Through his teaching at Capernaum, Jesus calls himself “the bread of life”, “the living bread” and concludes by saying that “the words I have spoken are spirit and they are life.” Jesus is trying to make it absolutely clear that God’s Word ought to be our spiritual food, and through it, he himself becomes our nourishment. Jesus also says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him to me.” Jesus was pointing out that no person, no matter how intelligent and highly educated, has within him or her the light that is needed to understand God’s Word, and the strength needed to come to faith in Jesus. It is when we are humble and confess our unworthiness that the Holy Spirit comes to us and makes up for our weakness. There is no greater barrier than pride. The Scribes and the Pharisees are a clear example of this. We are not yet in the habit of reading the Sacred Scriptures. St. Augustine has said, “When I pray, I speak to God; when I read the Scriptures, God speaks to me.” Can we let His Word be our daily bread? It’s free! Our daily bread! There was a family that had fallen on hard times, when their family business failed, and they lost everything. The neighbours were sympathetic, worked hard at fund raising and after a certain time managed to get them sufficient money for a trip to America, where the family believed they could make their fortune. The family had never been far from home so they had no idea how to prepare for a long sea voyage by boat from Cobh to New York. They bought bread and cheese, and packed a few boxes with sandwiches. They gathered in a single cabin on the boat with no desire to mix with others in case of finding themselves embarrassed or out of their depth. On the first, second, third, fourth and fifth day they ate sandwiches. From then on the sandwiches began to go bad and began to smell. By now they were all in a bad way. They felt sick, hungry and deeply discouraged. With a day or two left before reaching New York, one little lad begged his dad for a few pennies so he could go on the deck and buy some sweets. The dad gave him a few pennies and off he went. He didn’t return and after an hour the father was forced to go up on deck and search for him. When he came up on the deck he was amazed to find rows and rows of tables surrounded by people eating a beautiful dinner. There in the midst of them was his son, with a plate of turkey, ham, potatoes, and vegetables in front of him, together with a large beaker of Coke. The father came up behind him and whispered “Why did you do this? You know rightly we cannot afford this.” The young lad’s eyes lit up as he replied, “Dad, we could have had this everyday. This is all included with the tickets!” Jack McArdle in ‘And that’s the Gospel truth!’ Learned by Heart The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want……. Psalm 23:1 In his beautiful book, I shall not want, Robert Ketchum tells of a Sunday school teacher who asked her group of children if anyone could quote the entire Twenty-third Psalm. A golden-haired four-and-a-half-year-old was among those who raised their hands. A bit skeptical, the teacher asked if she could really quote the entire psalm. The little girl came to the rostrum, faced the class, made a perky little bow and said: The Lord is my shepherd, that’s all I want.” She bowed again and went and sat down. That may well be the greatest interpretation I’ve ever heard. Tim Hansel, in ‘You Gotta Keep dancing’ Don’t doubt God’s Word The night fell heavy in the heights of the mountains and the man could not see anything. All was black. Zero visibility, and the moon and the stars were covered by the clouds. As he was climbing only a few feet away from the top of the mountain, he slipped and fell in to the air, falling at great speed. He could only see black spots as he went down, and the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity. He kept falling and in the moments of great fear, it came to his mind all the good and bad episodes of his life. He was thinking now about how close death was getting, when all of a sudden he felt the rope tied to his waist pull him very hard. His body was hanging in the air. Only the rope was holding him and in that moment of stillness he had no other choice but to scream: "Help me God". All of a sudden a deep voice coming from the sky answered, "What do you want me to do?" "Save me God". "Do you really think I can save you?" "Of course I believe You can." "Then cut the rope tied to your waist." There was a moment of silence and the man decided to hold on to the rope with all his strength. The rescue team tells that the next day a climber was found dead and frozen, his body hanging from a rope. His hands were holding tight to it, only 1 foot away from the ground. Lesson from the Story: And We? How attached we are to our rope? Will we let go??? Don't ever doubt about the Words of God. We should never say that He has forgotten us or abandoned us. Anonymous The last leaf Mary and Kathy shared a flat on top of a three-story building. Kathy was struck down by pneumonia and suffered a complete collapse of the spirit. She gave up hope, and believed she was doomed to die. She even refused to take food and drink. The doctor came. When he left, Mary went into Kathy's bedroom. She found her lying in bed looking out the window. And in a low voice she was counting backwards:” Ten...nine...eight...seven..." Mary looked out of the window to see what her friend was counting. Outside there was a dreary yard. The only thing to see was a brick wall of the house next door. An old ivy plant grew on the wall. The cold wind had stripped it of most of its leaves. "What are you counting?" she asked. "The leaves on the ivy plant", Kathy answered." A few days ago there were hundreds of them on it. Now there are only a few left. I believe I will die when the last leaf falls". Having tried in vain to talk this nonsense out of head, Mary went to look for help. In the basement flat there lived an old artist by the name of Benson. As an artist he was a total failure. Now he drank to excess but still talked of the masterpiece he would one day make. Mary went and told him about her friend’s condition. "Leave her to me". Benson said, who in spite of his condition still had a soft heart. When Mary went back to Kathy's room she found her asleep. Next morning when she entered Kathy's room she found her awake and staring hard at the drawn curtain. "Pull it over". Kathy whispered. Mary obeyed. To her surprise, after the beating rain and fierce gusts of winds that lasted all night long there was one leaf left on the ivy tree. It was a mixture of green and yellow colour. "It’s the last one", said Kathy sadly. "But it will surely fall today and I will die at the same time". The day wore on and still the lone leaf clung to the branch. At the first sign of dawn on the second morning Kathy again gave orders for the curtain to be pulled back. The ivy leaf was still there. She looked it at silence for sometime. Then she said: "I've been wrong. I've been selfish. Something has made that leaf stay there to show me how wrong I was. Please bring me a little soup". It was the beginning of her recovery. On the third day the doctor declared her out of danger. He was in a hurry as he had a chronic case on his hands. It was Mr. Benson. He had caught pneumonia and was dying. That afternoon Mary entered Kathy's room to find her sitting up in bed knitting. "Kath", she began slowly, "I've something to tell you". "What is it?" Kathy enquired. "Mr. Benson died in this morning. He had been sick only briefly. Two days ago the caretaker found him in his room in great pain. His clothes were soaked through and through. They couldn't imagine where he had been the previous night. But then they found a lantern, still lighting and some scattered brushes, and a palette with green and yellow paint on it. And, look - look out of the window at the last leaf. Did you ever ask yourself why it never moved in the wind? Benson painted it there the night the last leaf fell". By painting that leaf -such a small thing - Benson saved the girl from despair. But it cost it him his life. Anonymous May we be nourished daily by His Word that sustains us! 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.
