29-Sep-2012
Dear Friend, All of us have to make choices and important decisions from time to time. Some choices are easy but sometimes we are not sure and agonize over decisions especially when they can affect and change our lives. We like to find out what others feel about our choices. Do we check with our God? Are we able to detach ourselves from doing our will to do His will? Have a discerning weekend! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: 28th Sunday "Detached from everything to be attached to God alone" 14-Oct-2012 Readings: Wisdom 7: 7-11 Hebrews 4: 12-13 Mark 10: 17-30 The first reading is from the Book of Wisdom written at a time when the Jewish community was in danger of losing its identity due to the influence of Greek philosophy and morals. The Jews were abandoning their faith for social acceptance and to acquire material wealth. The Jews were beginning to believe that wealth was a proof of character certified by God, as a sign of God's favour. The writer prays for the ability to make a proper choice just as Solomon the man who is characterized as Wisdom was given a choice, to choose between material wealth or the gift of understanding and wisdom and choose the latter. Like Solomon we too feel the pull of many temptations that cast a spell on us. Power, authority, abundance of riches, and beauty can beckon us, but reverence for God is the beginning of wisdom, which alone can help us to decide wisely. True Wisdom and Folly A gourd vine wound itself around the lofty palm and in a few weeks climbed to its very top. "How old might you be?" asked the newcomer. "About 100 years." "About 100 years, and you are no taller than this? In less than a hundred days I have grown as tall as you." "I know," replied the palm. "Every summer of my life a gourd like you has climbed up around me as proudly as you have. And they all lived only a few days, just as you will." Purnell Bailey In today's Gospel we are told a rich young aristocrat came running to Jesus. The rich man is nameless, symbolizing many people in similar situations in life. In his eagerness he asks Jesus, "Good teacher what must I do with my life?" "Young man, you know the commandments: Don't murder; You must not commit adultery; You must not steal..." Before Jesus can enumerate the rest, the young man interrupts, "But I have kept all these all my life." Jesus' response was to look at him with appreciation and love. Jesus wants the best for him and so he challenges him: "You lack one thing, go sell what you own, and give your money to the poor and come follow me." The rich man could not believe his ears. He was shocked and stumbled away. Jesus, sorry to see him go said: "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God." That rich man stands for many who come to God wishing to serve him but in their own way. What is the one thing that we lack in following Jesus? It could be something big or something small, it could be something bad it could be something not bad at all or even something good, that we are attached to. The key word in today's gospel story is 'possessions' and that could be anything. The test is: Do I possess it or does it possess me? What happens when it is taken away, when I can't have it? St. John of the Cross said. Whether a bird is tied by a chain or a silken chord does not matter, it still is not free. Very few of us are called today to renounce everything and join the monastic life. Most are called to live their Christian vocation within their family. But all are called to let go of their dream, their own plan for doing His will. Giving up anything and everything by itself counts for nothing, except as a precondition for doing His will. Today's gospel is challenging us to re-examine our values. Have material values replaced spiritual ones? Has the television set pushed away all prayer time in our lives? Have we to let go of some of our work and outside involvements in order to spend more time with our family? Do we have to sacrifice some of the luxuries we surround ourselves with, in order to open our hearts to the plight of the poor?" God's Wisdom in our Lives There is a story about Moses which is not in the Bible. It goes like this. The patriarch was sitting in his house very sad, and the Lord said to him, "Moses, why are you cast down?" Said he, "Because I see so many people sorrowful, some have no clothes; some are hungry. I ask you to make them happy and content." The Lord promised to do so and did. But then Moses was soon disconsolate again, and the Lord asked the cause. "Lord," he said, "the upper story of my house has fallen down and nobody will come to mend it; they are all too busy enjoying themselves." "But what am I to do?" "Lord, make the people as they were before." Pastor Paterno Exaggerated Self-importance A small passenger plane was cruising through the sky, carrying as its passengers a minister, a boy scout, and the president of a computer manufacturing firm. Suddenly, the engine went dead. Frantically, parachutes were passed among the passengers. There was fast breathing, a rush of wind as the door was thrown open. And as the plane tilted and fell through space, there came the horrible realization that there were not enough parachutes. There was one too few. "I have to have a parachute," cried the pilot. "I have a wife and three kids." So he grabbed a parachute and out he leaped into the void. The wind whistled and the three passengers looked at one another. "Well I certainly should have one of the parachutes," exclaimed the computer manufacturer. "I'm the smartest man in the world." And slipping his arms into the shoulder straps, he jumped out. "Son," said the minister wistfully, "you take the last parachute. I'm old and ready to meet my Maker; you're a fine youth with all your life ahead of you." "Relax, Reverend," said the boy scout with a smile. "There's still a parachute for each of us. The smartest man in the world' just jumped out wearing my knapsack." In 'Quote' Magazine Discernment Once, the queen of Ethiopia came to King Solomon's court. She loved Solomon, and wanted to become his beloved. She was very beautiful, but she wanted to love the wisest man in the world. So she put Solomon, to the test to see whether he was really as wise as he was said to be. She did many experiments; one of them was: she brought a false flower made of paper, but made so beautifully that it was almost impossible to detect that it was false. She went into the court of Solomon, she stood far away from him, and she said, "I have a flower in my hand. Can you say from that far away whether it is real or unreal?" Solomon said, "The Light is not enough, and I'm an old man, and I cannot see well. Please open the windows." The windows were opened. He waited for two minutes and said, "No, it is false." Then she brought another flower from her bag and she said, "What about this?" It was exactly like the first, but it was real. Solomon pretended to look at it and then he said, "Yes this is a real flower." The woman was astounded. The whole court was astounded: "What happened?" They asked him, "How could you find out?" He said, "Easy - I opened the windows for the bees to come in. They decided. For the first flower, no bee came in; for the second they immediately rushed in." Anonymous A modern-day Francis of Assisi? Jean Vanier is internationally recognized as a humanitarian because of his care for the retarded. The son of a former Governor-General of Canada, he served for a while as an officer in the Canadian Navy and later taught at the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto. But then he left behind all his family wealth and comfortable life style to establish a family-type home for the retarded which he named L'Arche. His hope was that it would be an Ark of refuge for the retarded in a hostile world. Under Jean Vanier's inspiration, homes similar to L'Arche have sprung up all over the world. Albert Cylwicki in 'His Word Resounds' Lacking Commitment James Lallam tells this amusing story in one of his writings. Years ago a young door-to-door salesman was assigned a rural area. One day he came upon a farmer seated in a rocking chair on his front porch. The young man went up to the farmer enthusiastically and said. "Sir, I have a book here that will tell you how to farm ten times better than you are doing now." The farmer didn't bother to look up. He simply kept on rocking. Finally, after a few minutes, he glanced up at the young salesman and said, "Young man, I don't need your book. I already know how to farm ten times better than I am doing now." -The story is a good illustration of what Jesus was talking about in today's gospel. The farmer was capable of farming better, but he lacked the commitment to do so. The rich young man was also capable of doing more than just keeping the commandments, but he too lacked the commitment to do so." Mark Link in 'Sunday Homilies' May we have the wisdom not to let anything or anyone come in the way of following Jesus. 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.
