31-Mar-2013 Dear Friend,
All of us have times when we begin doubting and our faith is shaken because of difficult and painful experiences that come our way. Sometimes we ask God for signs and proofs that he exists and that he is in charge of our life. It is easy to believe if we have proofs and signs that God is working for us. The test is to believe even when we do not see! Have a 'faith-filled' Easter Season!! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: 2nd Sunday of Easter "Happy are those who don't see yet believe!" 7-Apr-2013 Readings: Acts 5: 12-16 Rev. 1: 18- 2: 4,13-15, 22-24 John 20: 19-31 The first reading is taken from the book of the Acts of the Apostles, where we see a vibrant community of believers gathered to praise and worship the Lord, witnessing so powerfully that they grow in numbers and their faith is so contagious that other people join them. The reading also reminds us that many signs and wonders were done among the people and others realized that this community had power; that the apostles had the power of the risen Lord, so that even Peter's shadow falling on the sick could bring healing. The proof of the risen Lord was a community that was transformed and empowered. What good after all these years? A rabbi and a soap-maker went for a walk together. The soap-maker said, "What good is religion? Look at all the trouble and misery in the world! Still there, even after years, thousands of years of teaching, about goodness and truth and peace; still there, after all the prayers and the sermons and the teachings. If religion is good and true, why should this be? The rabbi said nothing. They continued walking until they noticed a child playing in the gutter. Then the rabbi said, "Look at this child. You say that soap makes people clean, but see the dirt on that youngster. Of what good is soap? With all the soap in the world, over all these years, the child is still filthy. I wonder how effective soap is after all!" The soap-maker protested, "But Rabbi, soap cannot do any good unless it is used!" "Exactly," replied the rabbi, "Exactly!" Anonymous Today's gospel describes to us the state of the apostles after Christ died. They were disillusioned and disappointed men with no will to live. They huddled together and locked themselves in out of fear of persecution. Yet the risen Christ breaks through their barriers and comes in their midst. His first greeting is one of comfort: "Peace be to you!" While the disciples were overjoyed at his presence, the gospel tells us that Thomas was not with them. When the disciples shared their encounter with the risen Lord, Thomas refused to believe. He demands evidence that can stand his scrutiny. "Unless I see the holes that the nails have made in his hands and put my finger in his side, I refuse to believe." We too are doubters like Thomas, we demand proofs and put God to the test. Eight days later Jesus appears again to the disciples when Thomas is with them. Jesus comes straight to the point as he addresses Thomas. "Put your fingers here, look, here are my hands. Doubt no longer but believe." But for Thomas seeing Jesus is enough, he does not need any further proof, he believes. "My Lord and my God!" Jesus looks at him and says, "You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen me and yet believe." So often we demand signs from God and give him ultimatums and deadlines. "I will not believe unless God cures me now!" We put God to the test as though he has to listen to us or else... What? It is said that in the gas chambers in Belsen, in Germany, a prisoner had scrawled in the soot that coated the gas chambers: "I believe in the sun when it does not shine! I believe in love when I don't experience it! I believe in God when He is silent!" Turning Doubts into certainty One Saturday night at about 10:00 p.m., the pastor of Almighty God Parish Church was trying to call a friend, but his friend did not answer the phone. The pastor let it ring many times. He thought it was odd that his friend would not answer while he was sure he was at home. He tried to call again after a few minutes and his friend answered right away. He asked why he had not answered before, and the latter answered that the phone hadn't rung. They brushed it off anyway and continued with their chat. The following Monday the pastor received a call. The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he had called him on Saturday night. The pastor couldn't figure out what the guy was talking about. Then the guy said, "It rang and rang, but I didn't answer." Then the pastor remembered and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he had intended to call his friend. The man said, "That's ok. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, "God if you are there, and don't want me to do this, give me a sign now." At that point the phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it said, 'Almighty God'. I was afraid to answer." -When we doubt God's love and we ask for signs and confirmation, He does not abandon us. Instead of hiding our doubts, we must do what Thomas did -bring those doubts to the Lord. The Lord will transform our doubts into beliefs. John Pichappilly in 'The Table of the Word' Why I believe! In 1879, Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian novelist, was fifty-one years of age. He had every reason to be satisfied with his life and proud of his personal achievements. After all he was the author of two classic novels -War and Peace and Anna Karenina. So outstanding were these novels that even if Tolstoy had written nothing more, he would still be remembered and hailed as one of the greatest novelists the world has ever known. However, Leo Tolstoy admits he was always haunted by the nagging question: "Is there any meaning in life that will not be destroyed by death?" This intrigued him immensely and, no matter what he tried, he could not find a plausible answer. The search drove him to such desperation that he even contemplated suicide. Earlier, Tolstoy had abandoned his Christian faith but at this juncture he realized that the truths of Christianity were the most sensible and he was once again drawn to them like a magnet. And this is what he said: "I thought that there was no sure truth in life. But then I found a sure source of light. I found it in the Gospel, and was dazzled by its splendour. In the teachings of Jesus I found the purest and most complete doctrine of life. For two thousand years the lofty and precious teaching of Jesus has exercised an influence over men and women in a way unequalled by anyone else. A light shone within me and around me, and this light has not abandoned me since." James Valladares in 'Your Words are Spirit, and they are Life' He is our peace Amid the horrors of World War I, there occurred a unique truce when, for a few hours enemies behaved like brothers. Christmas Eve in 1914 was all quiet on France's Western front, from the English Channel to the Swiss Alps. Trenches came within fifty miles of Paris. The war was only five months old, and approximately eight hundred thousand men had been wounded or killed. Every soldier wondered whether something happened: British soldiers raised Merry Christmas signs; soon carols were heard from the German and British trenches alike. Christmas dawned with unarmed soldiers leaving their trenches, as officers on both sides tried unsuccessfully to stop their troops from meeting their enemy in the middle of no-man's-land, for songs and conversation. Exchanging small gifts -mostly sweets and cigars -they passed Christmas day peacefully along miles of the front. At one spot, the British played soccer with the Germans, who won three to two. In some places the spontaneous truce continued the next day, neither side willing to fire the first shot. Finally, the war resumed when fresh troops arrived, and the high command of both armies ordered that 'informal understandings' with the enemy would be punishable as treason. Christmas brought peace to the warring soldiers. - The resurrection is a harbinger of peace. In today's Gospel, Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples for the first time after his resurrection. His first words to them were: "Peace be to you." Peace was the gift the disciples needed most, and the risen Lord gave them 'Peace' as a gift. John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' My Lord and My God! A doctor who specializes in hand surgery wrote in a national publication that at some point in every operation he says, "My Lord and My God!" The story behind this unusual practice dates back to when he was in Vietnam. One night, fresh out of medical school, the surgeon was called upon to remove a bullet from a soldier's hand. Moreover, he had to do it by candle light. The operation moved him so deeply that after the war, he decided to specialize in hand surgery. Because of his specialty, the surgeon had a deep appreciation of the terrible pain caused by something like a bullet, ripping through the bones, muscles and nerves of the human hand. He says he winces every time he thinks of the excruciating pain that Jesus endured when his hands were nailed to the cross. Referring to today's gospel, the surgeon says he thinks Thomas' cry "My Lord and My God!" was more than a profession of faith. He thinks it was also a cry of shock at seeing how torn and mangled the hands of Jesus were. Only then did Thomas realize what Jesus suffered on the cross. And that discovery, says the surgeon, "was almost more than Thomas could bear." The surgeon ends his moving article with his testimony: "Every time I operate and look beneath the skin of a human hand, I am reminded that Christ gave up his perfect hands for me." Dr. C. Scott Harrison in 'Guideposts' During this Easter season may the Risen Lord remove all doubts and fill us with peace! 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.
