12-May-2013
Dear Friend, While we are busy with our daily routine, we all have something that we look forward to that breaks the monotony of life. For some of us it is an arrival or meeting with a friend, for others it is the prospect of a job/promotion, for still others it is moving into a new home or the birth of a new born! We look forward with excitement. Have we anything to look forward to in our faith life? At Pentecost we can look forward to God's Spirit bringing new life. Have an exciting weekend filled with His Spirit! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Pentecost Sunday "I am going to put breath in you and you will live!" 19-May-2013 Readings: Acts 2:1-111 Cor. 12:3-7, 12-13John 20:19-33 The first reading begins with the apostles huddled in the upper room after the death of their Master fearful that His fate might be their own. Suddenly they hear what sounds like a powerful wind, it fills the whole room, they see tongues of fire resting on each of them and they receive the gift of speech. The coming of the Spirit breaks all barriers filling the world with God's presence. The tongues of fire remind us of the tongues of fire that were seen when God made a covenant with Moses at Mount Sinai. That was the first covenant made by God with his chosen people. Pentecost is the new covenant made by the Spirit with the new people of God, His Church. A sign of this covenant is the gift of speech, the gift of communication, the gift of being able to express oneself and be understood in one's own language. The language understood by all is the language of the spirit, the language of love. Whereas Babel was man's effort to reach God that led to confusion, Pentecost is God's initiative reaching out through one another leading to unity and understanding Film: 'Being John Malkovich' In the very strange 1999 surrealist movie "Being John Malkovich", someone discovers a portal into Malkovich's mind, enabling visitors to see and experience things through his body and to influence his actions. He becomes aware of what's happening and finds the portal himself. At the climax of the movie, there is a bizarre but powerful scene when he enters the portal, being swept down a dark tunnel with a roaring sound to emerge as a participant/observer in his own world. He discovers that everyone has his face and his voice, and every word spoken is his name. Connections with the Pentecost story: - the paradox of the creator entering his own creation by an unexplainable power; - the potential of the portal to connect people in an unprecedented kind of indwelling. - seeing the face of Malkovich everywhere reminds me of the Spirit making Jesus present through us in a new and all-encompassing way. We are recognisably Christ-like, though still ourselves, and all we say and do is 'in his name'. It's a frightening moment in the movie, because Malkovich has no wish to become omnipresent as a Christ-figure, but the image is powerful. >From film insights by Marnie Barrel in 'The Text this Week' In the Gospel Jesus reminds his disciples that while He is leaving them He is not abandoning them. While He was on earth He was their strength, their advocate with the Father. Now He is going to give them another advocate, another helper they can always rely on, the Holy Spirit. The gospel reading represents John's version of the birth of the Church. The disciples are to continue Jesus' mission from his Father and this mission will, as his, involve judgement. His mission was to bring humankind to the light and to the Father. In John's gospel there is a continuous process of confrontation with Jesus and self-judgement. The different attitudes of humankind to Jesus will continue in the reactions to his presence in the Church. It is significant that in John the Church is founded by the risen Lord. When Jesus breathes upon the disciples it shows that a new creation is taking place. Just as God made man by breathing life into him, so the life of the Church comes from the breath of the Spirit of Jesus. This is the new life Jesus came to bring. In a sense everything is already accomplished when Jesus breathes life into his disciples. The Holy Spirit is the advocate that never fails. We know of people who carry on living joyfully though they are suffering; we know of people who have been battered with one trial after another, who have not grown embittered by it all. We know of priests and religious sisters living constantly under fear of being attacked because they are Christian, who refuse to give up or retaliate. We know of people who have very little security and an uncertain future, people who can still radiate peace, the gifts of the Spirit. The Spirit is very much alive and very much needed in these demanding times. Points System There was this secondary school teacher who died and arrived at the gates of heaven. He was calmly walking in through the entrance, when Peter stopped him and said, "Hi, hold on there! Where are you going?" "I'm going in there." replied the teacher to which Peter replied "Oh no, you're not! It's not that simple. Just like you had in your secondary-level education, we also have a points system in operation here." "Oh, I didn't know that" said the teacher. "What is your system? How many points do I require?" "We have set one thousand points as requirement for entry into heaven" said Peter. "Now tell me something about yourself, and why you expect to get in this door." The teacher took a deep breath, stuck out his chest (this was his big moment) and said "I went to mass every morning for the past forty years." "Very good" said Peter. "That's one point." The poor teacher was completely taken aback, and was nearly struck dumb when Peter asked "And tell me, what else did you do along the journey of life?" The teacher gathered himself together, and had another go. "I was in the S.V.P., and in several Third World Charities, and I collected a lot of money over the years". "How much?" asked Peter. "Probably forty or fifty thousand pounds" said the teacher. "Very good." said Peter. "That's another point." By now the poor teacher was completely deflated and he muttered to himself under his breath "I'm afraid it's only by the grace of God I'm going to get there." Peter heard him and looked him straight in the eye and said "You are perfectly correct. It is only be the grace of God and His Spirit that you'll ever be able to enter those gates. If you really believe that, go right in, because that, my dear friend, is a thousand points!" At Pentecost God gave us the most precious gift of His Spirit freely to all who believed! Anonymous The Role of the Holy Spirit in our lives A renowned Italian violinist, violist, cellist, guitarist and composer, Niccolo Paganini, was due to perform one night in a very prestigious Concert Hall in Paris. Even as he walked on stage, the audience stood up and cheered with irrepressible excitement and heart-warming esteem. Resting his violin under his chin, the celebrated musician began to play with such dexterity and brilliance that the audience listened in spell bound silence. Suddenly one string on the violin snapped. But the consummate professional was not deterred. On the contrary, he continued to play with three strings, and the music was just as fascinating and impressive. Moments later, a second string snapped; and minutes later the third... The crowd gasped in stunned disbelief. What was Paganini going to do? Would he bow and leave gracefully? Without losing his cool, the famous maestro raised his hand, called for silence and announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to hear Paganini on one string." What followed thereafter literally took everyone's breath away - the performance was flawless, the music exquisite, the entertainment heavenly and on just one string! Such was the incomparable touch of the master's hand. -This extraordinary story aptly describes the singular and marvelous role of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives. A wise author summarized that role in this thought-provoking maxim: "God does not look at our ability or inability; all God wants is our availability." James Valladares in 'Your Words are Spirit, and they are Life' By the power of His Spirit At 7:15 a.m. on September 5, 1987, Dr. Ben Carson, an American paediatric neurosurgeon, assisted by a team of most skilled surgeons, physicians, anaesthetists and nursing staff, performed the critical separation of the seven-year-old German twins, Patrick and Benjamin Binder, precariously joined at the back of the head - a delicate and critical operation that lasted 22 agonizing hours. And when it had been successfully accomplished, Dr. Carson lifted his eyes to God and whispered, "Thank you, God, thank you. I know you had a hand in this." Dr. Carson humbly ascribed his phenomenal success to two special persons -Almighty God and his mother, Sonya. A single parent, Sonya had worked tirelessly at two and even three jobs, whatever she could find, to make ends meet and educate her two sons. Above all, she was a devout believer with an unshakeable faith in God. So when her son Ben declared his dream of being a doctor, that noble woman said: "Bennie, listen to me. If you ask the Lord for something and believe He will do it, then it will happen." Ben Carson went on to become one of America's best paediatric neurosurgeons. -Despite our human frailties, limitations and imperfections, the Holy Spirit is able to achieve the most marvelous results in and through us, because God's power is almighty, his wisdom inscrutable, and his love unfathomable. James Valladares in 'Your Words are Spirit, and they are Life' They were all together A pastor once heard that one of his parishioners was going about announcing to one and all that he would no longer attend church services. The rebellious parishioner was advancing the familiar argument that he could communicate with God just as easily out in the fields, with nature as his setting for worship. One winter evening the pastor called on this reluctant member of his flock for a friendly visit. The two men sat before the fireplace making small talk, but studiously avoiding the issue of church attendance. After a while, the pastor took the tongs from the rack next to the fireplace and pulled a single coal from the fire. He placed the glowing ember on the hearth. As the two watched in silence, the coal quickly ceased burning and turned ashen grey, while the other coals in the fire continued to burn brightly. The pastor's silent message was not lost on the parishioner. After a long pause, he turned to the pastor and said, "I'll be back at services next Sunday." We read in the Scriptures that 'When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together." John Pichappilly in 'The Table of the Word' May we be transformed and renewed by the power of His Spirit! 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.
