[Goanet] Third Sunday of Easter
11-Apr-2018 Dear Friend, It has been said that good news is too good to be true! We all know of people disbelieving us when we have tried to convey some good news to them. We want to hear good news yet we are more ready to believe bad news! The good news today is that Jesus is alive and present right now in our midst, in our world exactly as it is today! Do we believe He is with us in this messy world of ours? Haven’t we to first acknowledge our lack of faith before we can experience Him in our lives? Have a reassuring weekend! He is alive! Alleluia! –Fr. Jude Sun. Refl. 3rd. Sun. of Easter “Repent of sins and forgive the offences of others!” 15-Apr-2018Acts 3: 13-15, 17-19; 1 John. 2: 1-5; Luke 24: 35-48; In today’s first reading Peter highlights how God maintains his covenant with mankind continually despite their sins and ignorance. We may fowl up things and regret the blunders we have caused but God’s plan continues in spite of it all. He continues to write straight through the crooked lines of our history. Peter makes the point that our God is one and the same, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors and our God as well. Peter is quick to confront the sinfulness of the leaders and the people of Israel. When we look at our sins and their effect on the world around us we could easily give way to despair and despondency. Our response should not be one of passive resignation and disowning of responsibility but rather one of repentance and reconciliation. Eternal HarmonyCenturies ago, it was known far and wide that a certain tribal leader was the greatest in all the tribes. In order to help his people he carefully put laws into place so that he had a reputation for uncompromising justice. But in spite of the laws there were problems; someone in the tribe was stealing. He called the people and reasoned with them. “This stealing must stop. A penalty has been imposed of twenty lashes from the whip for the person caught stealing.” But the thief continued stealing, so the leader called the people again. “Please hear me, he pleaded. The penalty has been increased to thirty lashes.” Still the stealing continued and again the leader called them, pleaded with them and increased the penalty to forty lashes. Finally a man came to say that the thief was caught and as word spread everyone gathered to see who it was. A single gasp emerged through the crowd as the thief emerged between the two guards. The tribal leader’s face fell in shock and grief for the thief was his very own mother, old and frail. “What will he do?” the people murmured. Would he uphold the law or would his love for his mother win over it? The people waited eagerly to watch the outcome. Finally the leader spoke. “My beloved people,” His voice broke. “It is for our safety and our peace. There must be forty lashes; the pain this crime has caused is too great.” With his nod the guards led his mother forward. One gently removed her robe to expose her bony and crooked back. The appointed man stepped forward and began to unwind the whip. At the same moment the leader stepped forward and removed his robe as well, exposing his broad shoulders, wrapped his arms around his dear mother, shielding her with his own body. He whispered gently against her cheek as his tears blended with hers. He nodded once more, and the whip came down again and again. A single moment, yet in it love and justice found an eternal harmony.John MacArthur as told in ‘Grace to You’ The Gospel scene is once again the hideout of the disciples and there is pandemonium and confusion instead of peace and harmony. Jesus had died and now there was talk that He had risen from the dead. While they are arguing and debating their stories, Jesus himself stood among them, and they were startled and terrified and believed they were seeing a ghost. Jesus’ words are: “Peace be with you!” Unfortunately, instead of fixing our gaze on him and believing in his words of pardon, we prefer to stay with our past and in fear of punishment. If we turn our gaze to Him, He will open our minds to understand the scriptures, to understand everything; our death is necessary so that we too might rise up to new life. We are called to be witnesses of the forgiveness of sins; witnesses of a God of Peace and New Life! The Four-legged theologianThe sick man seized the doctor’s hand. “I’m so afraid to die. Do tell me doctor, what is waiting for me when I die? What will it be like on the other side?” “I don’t know.” answered the doctor. “You don’t know?” whispered the dying man. Without further reply the doctor opened the door into the corridor. A dog sprang in, jumped up to him and showed in every way his joy at seeing his master again. Then the doctor turned back to the sick man and said: “Did you see how the dog behaved? He has never been in this room before and does not know the people here. But he knew his master was on the
[Goanet] Third Sunday of Easter
25-Apr-2017 Dear Friend, All of us have had moments of disappointment, frustration and disillusionment in our lives. These were moments when we felt like giving up and quitting. The disciples on the way to Emmaus were packing up and taking off. Their hopes had been crushed by the death of Jesus. What is our reaction to our disillusionments? I would like to reflect on this theme with you. Wishing you an ‘Emmaus’ weekend! -Fr. Jude. Sun. Ref: 3rd Sunday of Easter “Seeing His hand in all things! Do we recognize Him?” 30-Apr-2017Acts: 2: 14, 22-33; 1 Peter 1: 17-21; Luke 24: 13-35; In the first reading we hear Peter preaching the first Christian sermon of the five recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Peter’s preaching and witness is a wonderful testimony to the resurrection of the Lord because of the awesome transformation that was wrought in Peter himself. This impulsive, bumbling, vacillating, frightened shaky man chosen to be the leader is completely transformed by the Spirit which now has taken possession of him. Peter is now courageous, fearless, single-minded, loyal and ready to suffer for the Master. What the Lord did for Peter he continues to do for all believers who are transformed and changed in the measure that they let the Lord take over their lives. I never knew what things were like…..An old novel tells the story of a wealthy woman who travelled the world over, visiting museums and art galleries, meeting people and viewing the sights. Soon she became completely bored. Then she met a man who had none of the world’s goods, but a great love of beauty and a sincere appreciation of it. In his company the world looked entirely different to her. At one point she told him, “I never knew what things were like until you taught me how to look at them”. In every love story there comes a point when the lover says that to the beloved. –Peter suggests a different way of looking at Christ to the Israelites confronted with the resurrection.Harold Buetow in ‘God Still Speaks: Listen!’ The Gospel has one of the most beautiful stories of the post resurrection appearances of the disciples on the way to Emmaus. Firstly, the incident described tells us that the disciples were not the leaders but ordinary disciples. Perhaps the point being made is that Jesus can appear to any one whom he chooses to reveal himself to. The fact that Emmaus was not popular also tells us that God can reveal himself to us in the most insignificant of places, our hometown! Thirdly, the fact that Jesus joined them on the road is a forceful reminder that God comes to us often along the least expected paths that we travel along in life. Next, we are reminded that when Jesus joined them along the road they were not aware of who this stranger was though they let him join in the conversation. They shared all their disappointments about Jesus and the coming of the Messiah. What is happening between them and Jesus is a perfect model of prayer, with Jesus’ help they are able to open up their hearts and place all before Jesus. Jesus in turn patiently listens to them and starts explaining what had been written in the scriptures about him. In fact their way of coping with their disappointment was to withdraw from the company of the apostles and run away from Jerusalem. We are often tempted to run away rather than find strength in community. Next, we are told that as they came near to Emmaus Jesus walked ahead as if he was going on but they extended hospitality to Jesus and welcomed him to share their bread and board and their welcoming gesture was richly rewarded. They encountered Jesus. Do we realize that in being hospitable and welcoming to strangers we could be welcoming Christ? Further, the Gospel tells us that the disciples offered bread to Jesus who accepted it blessed it broke it and gave it back to them and it was then that they recognized Jesus. Any meal, every meal can be a sacred moment, when we genuinely share ourselves with others. When we break bread together, God is revealed to us! We are called to be companions along the Way! The last part of the episode tells us that immediately after Jesus disappeared they journeyed back to Jerusalem to share the good news and as they journeyed they recalled their earlier journey with Jesus, which they were now able to see in a different light. Incidentally, this reminds us that the scriptures should go hand in hand with the Eucharist. We understand life and scripture makes sense when we have shared our bread with others and received the bread broken for us. “Go to Mass every Sunday… work in a soup kitchen”Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee said in an interview in the magazine The Critic: “If younger people are having an identity problem as Catholics, I tell them to do two things: Go to Mass every Sunday and work in a soup kitchen. If one does those two things over a period of time, then something will happen to give
