8-Dec-2013 Dear friend,
We all love to hear good news about ourselves, our near and dear ones, our friends and our world. Yet there are prophets of doom and people who enjoy spreading bad and depressing news. Believers are called to be optimistic not because of wishful thinking but because they believe God is in charge of the world and our lives and He is a God of life! Our lives are not a journey towards an aimless destiny but towards fulfilment in God! He is coming into our world! Do our lives radiate hope? Live hopefully for His coming! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: 3rd Sun. of Advent "Rejoice for the source of our joy is coming! Be messengers of Joy!" 15-Dec-2013 Isaiah 35: 1-6, 10 James. 5: 7-10 Matt 11: 2-11 In this reading the prophet Isaiah, invites the people in exile to be hopeful and rejoice despite all their trials and suffering in exile because the Lord will certainly come and lead them back to their homeland. His coming will be marked with signs of hope for all who await his coming. He encourages the Israelites to hold on to their hope: "Be strong, fear not! Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense from God. He will come to save you." Those will be days of celebrations as wonderful things will happen in their midst: The eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, the lame will leap and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy! Do we live in definite hope of His coming to save us, or is our life merely wishful thinking? "I hope it happens but..." What are you doing to bring joy to others? In her book Return to Love Marianne Williamson points out that a friend said to her, "Marianne, I am so depressed by world hunger!" Marianne replied "Do you give five dollars a week to one of the organizations that feed the hungry?" She goes on to say that she asks this question because she notices how people who participate in solving problems don't seem to be as depressed as those standing on the sidelines doing nothing. Am I part of the problem or part of the solution? Gerard Fuller in 'Stories for All Seasons' The gospel tells us that when John was in prison he heard about the deeds of Jesus Christ and sent word by his disciples to find out whether he was the Christ the promised one, or if they had to wait for another. Jesus' answer deals with a very concrete testimony. The disciples are to relate what they have seen and heard. The question concerning Jesus' identity will be answered by his deeds, which correspond to what was announced by the prophet Isaiah, in text which is very present in the gospels in terms of Jesus' mission. All his actions consist in giving life. Works for the sake of the poor and the needy identify Jesus as the Messiah. The Son of Man who has no place to lay his head lives in these works which mark the bursting forth of God's kingdom into the present, a kingdom which is preferentially destined to the poor and through them to every human being. The healings mentioned are the anticipation and the pledge of that kingdom. Our own words and gestures of love towards others nourish the hope of the final coming of the Lord, and they make it near and dynamic. In his own days, Jesus gives us an example in order for us to understand that it is a commandment for all his followers in the course of history. Today, our gestures of solidarity in the presence of hunger and poverty of so many in the world have to communicate that God's kingdom is among us. The gospel concludes with a beatitude: "Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." John takes no offense when he receives the testimony of his disciples, and this is why Jesus praises him. Like John, all of us are to be joyful and hopeful messengers of the Lord. John's Mission and Ours Henry David Thoreau was an American writer who authored the renowned essay 'Civil Disobedience'. He championed the freedom of the individual over the law of the land. Once, Thoreau was imprisoned for a night because he refused to pay the poll tax as a protest against the government's support of slavery and the unjust war against Mexico presumably in support of slave trade intentions. When he was arrested he hoped that some of his friends would follow his example and fill the jails, and in this way persuade the government to change its stance on the issue of slavery. In this he was disappointed. Not only did his friends not join him, one friend paid the tax on his behalf and got him released the very next day. When he was in prison, Emerson, another American writer came to visit him. He said to Thoreau: "Thoreau, Thoreau, why are you inside (jail)? And Thoreau replied, "Emerson, Emerson, why are you outside?" Thoreau was a great lover of truth. He suffered because he spoke and stood for the truth. Emerson said in his obituary of Thoreau, "He was a great speaker and actor of truth." -In today's gospel, Jesus spoke of John the Baptist as the greatest man born of woman. John the Baptist was a great lover of truth. The arrival of John the Baptist signaled the arrival of Jesus. Today's gospel speaks of the greatness of John the Baptist, the mission and destiny of John the Baptist, and the littleness of John the Baptist. What was it that John lacked? The answer is simple and fundamental. John had never seen the Cross, so he would never know the full revelation of the love of God. John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' Prepare the Way for the Lord! Nathaniel Hawthorne was a great American writer. When he died in 1864, he had on his desk the outline of a play he had never got a chance to finish. The play centered on a person who never appeared on stage. Everyone talked about him. Everyone dreamed about him. Everyone awaited his arrival. But he never came. All kinds of minor characters described him. They told everybody what he would be like. They told everybody what he would do. But the main character never appeared. The Old Testament is something like Nathaniel Hawthorne's play. It too ended without the main character putting in an appearance. Everyone talked about the Messiah. Everyone dreamed about him. Everyone awaited his arrival. But he never came. All kinds of prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah told the people what he would be like. They told the people what to do. But the Messiah never appeared. It is against this background that we must read today's readings. It is against this background that we should view the appearance of John the Baptist in Israel. People wondered" Is he the promised Messiah? Mark Link in 'Sunday Liturgies' The greatest mission -bringing hope to the hopeless The famous astronomer Galileo was born near Florence in the year 1564, Contrary to the common belief that the Earth was the centre of the solar system, Galileo confirmed what had earlier been observed by Copernicus, that the sun and not the earth is the centre of the solar system. Sadly, this towering intellectual giant, who had spent his entire life in rapt wonder of the marvels of God's inspiring creation, had to spend his last years hopelessly confined to the dark and bleak world of incurable blindness. When summoned before the inquisition this is what he wrote: "Alas, poor Galileo, your devoted servant, has been for a month totally and incurably blind; so that this heaven, this earth, this universe, which by my observations and demonstrations, I have enlarged beyond their previous limits, are now shriveled for me into such a narrow compass as is filled by my own bodily sensations." Even as we hear his pitiful complaint, we cannot but sympathize with the intense pain and heart breaking frustration of helpless Galileo. And such was also the pain and frustration of John the Baptist, as he lay confined to his prison cell, when he had an important and God-given mission -to prepare the way for the promised Redeemer. We too are privileged to serve as sign-posts, pointing, guiding, and assisting people to journey in the right direction to God.-Charles Malik, one-time Lebanese ambassador to the United Nations, said in a speech: "What has been the greatest American contribution to the rest of the World? Has it been money? Has it been food? Has it been medical skills? Has it been military might? Has it been industrial know-how? And then he adds his own answer: "the greatest thing to come out of America has been the American missionary effort: the quiet selfless men and women who have left the comfort and security of their homeland to bring the gospel of Christianity to the less favoured nations." James Valladares in 'Your words, O Lord, are Spirit, and They Are Life' Jesus is visiting us! At Christmas we have to think of others. In order to have a real Christ-coming at Christmas we need to think of others, love and help others. There can be no real Christmas without others. There was an old shoemaker whose name was Mark. It was Christmas time and he wanted to see Jesus. At night he had a dream in which he saw Jesus and Jesus promised him that he would visit him the following day. Martin was excited and prepared the best pair of shoes, bought expensive clothes and cooked delicious food and was waiting for Jesus to come. Early in the morning a beggar came by and his feet were completely numb for he did not have shoes. Mark gave him the expensive pair of shoes. A little later a poor man came shivering with cold. Mark had pity on him and gave him the expensive clothes he had bought for Jesus. At noon there was a youngster who was hungry for he had not eaten for several days. The cobbler offered him the delicious food that was cooked for Jesus. He was happy and satisfied. Jesus did not turn up and Mark was disappointed. At night he had a vision in which he saw Jesus. He complained to Jesus that he had disappointed him. Jesus replied that he had visited his house thrice and was satisfied and thanked him for the wonderful treatment he gave Him, but Mark was puzzled. Jesus explained: Whatever you did to the others you did to me! Elias Dias in 'Divine Stories for Families' Film -The Matrix "The Matrix" was a sleek, good-looking, fast-paced sci-fi film that could be easily enjoyed on its surface, thanks to great special and digital effects, rollicking kung fu action, a couple of fine performances, and a plot that doesn't get in the way of the rest of it. Thomas Anderson works in a cubicle by day, but by night he's known as Neo, a hacker who programs virtual reality software that's vaguely illegal. He's contacted by Trinity and introduced to an underground faction led by Morpheus. Neo learns of the existence of the Matrix, operated by artificial intelligence that has enslaved humankind in a world composed entirely of virtual reality. Neo has been recruited because Morpheus believes he is The One who, it has been foretold, can bring down the Matrix. Neo is an obvious Christ figure, and Morpheus is a kind of John the Baptist. While the idea of humans connected to a matrix and used for their energy resources is creepy enough in the movie, something of the same is already occurring in our world. Whether that matrix is the internet or the television or something completely non-technological, people can become enslaved, addicted, to a version of reality that does not exist and precludes them from following a path to salvation. There have also been those who have seen the deeper layers explored by "The Matrix" and appreciated them. This speaks to an awareness that the world we inhabit consists of more than flesh and blood and to a willingness to engage in a discussion of that deeper layer. John D. Banks in 'Hollywood Jesus .com' May we be messengers of joy and hope to a waiting world, by our lives! Fr. Jude Botelho botelhoj...@gmail.com 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.
