17-Mar-2013
Dear Friend, We are entering into the solemn mysteries of Holy Week as we prepare for the great feast of Easter. We begin with the "Hosanna" which soon turns into cries of rejection: "Crucify Him!" We see the suffering and death of Jesus, his weakness and frailty, as well as his strength and triumph. We witness the shame of the cross as well as the glory and power of the Cross, an instrument of death as well as salvation! What makes the difference is the acceptance in faith and using suffering as a means of love. Have a Blessed Holy Week celebrating the generous love of Jesus for us all! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Passion Sunday "Are you with Jesus? For Him or against Him?" 24-Mar-2013 Readings: Isaiah 50: 4-7Phil 2: 6-11John 22: 14- 23: 56 Palm Sunday starts with the reminder of the triumphant procession of Jesus into Jerusalem. He knows he is going to his death yet he goes forth boldly and fearlessly, ready to face what ever is the will of the father. He comes riding on a donkey and people wave palm branches and welcome him. Usually a victorious king would come riding on a charger, a war horse, the symbol of battle, the Lord comes on a donkey, he is not going to overthrow with power, He is going to overcome by choice, by obedience by submission unto death. At the same time, Jesus is not doing this for public approval, to impress the rabble. He does not rely on public approval. The same crowd that cries 'Hosanna' will cry out a little later: 'Crucify Him!' The first reading points out to us the humble attitude of the Suffering Servant. He is not one who will defend himself. To be a Christian is to be a person marked by the sign of the Cross. For some of us there will be mental agony, for others physical pain and for still others spiritual desolation. We cannot escape the Cross. What is our attitude to the Cross that comes our way? Without faith suffering is meaningless and pointless. Faith does not make suffering vanish from our life but gives us the assurance that He is there with us every step of the way. He does not talk for or about himself. He is the silent one. While he is the first to stand for justice for others he does not demand justice for himself. When we feel we are unjustly condemned how quick we are to hit back, to defend ourselves, to retaliate. Silence is seen as weakness and we feel we have to be aggressive; we have every right to defend ourselves. The innocent one is silent!!! There are times when Truth needs no defence! The will of God There is a story about an old man who lived in a small town. He had been an 'Uncle John' figure to countless young people. He taught them to hunt and fish. He was greatly loved. He owned a small piece of land, and continued to live there alone after his wife died. One day it was discovered that a valuable strain of copper ran right through his property. The old man had no use for money; all he wanted was to stay in the only home he had known. Finally the businessmen threatened him with lynching. At the appointed time, these leaders showed up at his front porch. The parish priest was there with 'old John'. The parish priest stepped forward and said: "John knows that he is going to die. He has a last will and testament that he wants me to share with you. He gives his fishing rod to Pete, because he remembers the first bass Pete caught with it. He wants his rifle to go to James, because he remembers teaching him to shoot." Item by item, the old man gave back in love to those who would kill him. The people left one by one. Then the old man's grandson asked, "What kind of will was that, Grandpa?" The old man replied, "The Will of God, son." John Pachapilly in 'The Table of the Word' In today's reading of the passion and death of Jesus, we listen to Luke's testimony in clear language telling us about Christ's suffering. We cannot read these texts without feeling invited to share Jesus' suffering and also his complying with the will of the Father. The Gospel describes to us in details the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. From the path that marked his joyous entry into Jerusalem, he now walks the path that will lead to his death but ultimate victory. We could look at the passion of Jesus Christ from three stand points, three types of suffering that Jesus underwent and we experience as well: mental agony, physical suffering, and spiritual desolation. Jesus experienced mental suffering in the garden of Gethsemane. He knew he would suffer much and humanly speaking he felt the whole experience of desertion by his followers and disciples, betrayal by his very own, the misunderstandings of the religious authorities and the condemnation to a shameful death even before it happened. It was frightening and He sweated blood just thinking about it. "Father if it is possible take this suffering away from me, yet not my will but thine be done." All of us have sometime or another experienced mental suffering so we can all relate to what Jesus underwent in his mental agony. In time of mental suffering, often the only comfort we have is the knowledge that Jesus suffered mentally before us and is now supporting us in our hour of trial. In every Cross and trial there is Christ, even if we do not see or experience him. Secondly, Jesus suffered physically. He was brutally beaten, crowned with thorns, forced to carry the cross to Calvary and ultimately nailed on it and died on it. Again we can all relate to physical pain. We have all experienced it, some more than others. In time of physical sufferings often the only comfort we have is knowing that Jesus suffered the same way and is now supporting us in our hour of trial. Finally, Jesus suffered spiritually. After having endured the mental agony and the physical tortures as he hung on the cross there was that one moment when he felt that even God had abandoned him. That perhaps was the worse suffering. Where was his father when he needed his consolation and support? It seemed that even his father had deserted him, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" Again, we can all relate to spiritual sufferings. There have been times when all of us have felt abandoned by God. To be a Christian is to be a person marked by the sign of the Cross. For some of us there will be mental agony, for others physical pain, and for still others spiritual desolation. We cannot escape the Cross. What is our attitude to the Cross that comes our way? Without faith suffering is meaningless and pointless. Faith does not make suffering vanish from our life but gives us the assurance that He is there with us every step of the way. "If you wish to be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me." Film: The Passion by Stephen Shanks Some years ago I came across a short video film entitled "The Passion" by Stephen Shanks. What was unique about this ten-minute presentation of the passion was the fact that the same person played all the roles in the passion. He was Judas and Jesus and Peter and Pilate and the high Priest and ... What is the point the presenter is putting forth? In life we all play different roles all the time. There is the saint and the sinner in every one of us. We like to believe that we are not like the rest, that we are better people, that we are different. In all humility we have to accept our weaknesses and our strengths, our moments of grace and our moments of sin. Your special cross The young man was at the end of his rope. Seeing no way out, he dropped to his knees in prayer. "Lord, I can't go on," he said. "I have too heavy a cross to bear." The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight, just place your cross inside this room. Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you wish." The man was filled with relief. "Thank you, Lord," he sighed, and he did as he was told. Upon entering the other door, he saw many crosses, some so large the tops were not visible. Then, he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall. "I'd like that one, Lord," he whispered. And the Lord replied, "My son, that is the cross you just brought in." Anonymous The passion lamentation A few years ago I was giving a Scripture workshop on the Beatitudes. "Blessed are they who mourn" provided the occasion to reflect on the laments of the Old Testament, which formerly marked the solemn celebration of Good Friday at the Tenebrae service. With the help of a sensitive young liturgist, we put together an evening prayer of lament, modeled on the standard prayer that chose lament psalms and readings. In place of petitions we asked people to utter simple prayers such as "I grieve over..." or "I lament ..." each utterance was followed simply by prayerful silence -no requests for help, no expressed hope that it would come. Suppressed grief and frustration over the reign of evil in our world echoed through the chapel. There was a sense of Christ praying in us during the waning hours of the day. Participants said it was one of the most moving and healing liturgies they had experienced. - The sufferings of Jesus remind us that his followers will also walk to many Calvary's. In a haunting lament our African-American brothers ask us if we were there "when they crucified my Lord." The passion narratives allow us to express abandonment, but assure us no one need tread the wine press alone. John Donahue in 'Hearing the Word of God' Marked for death Voltaire was the 18th century French atheist philosopher. All his life he openly proclaimed and preached atheism. He was a very brave and outspoken critic of religion. But when he neared his death, he started shivering and shuddering. He said to the doctor attending him, "I'll give you half of what I am worth if you give me six months of life." His doctor said, "Sir, you cannot even live for six weeks." Then Voltaire despairing said, "Then I will go to hell and you will go with me." Later, he died in despair. The prospect of his death shook his convictions and composure. -Jesus was marked for death. The Jews were fond of marking people for death. Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel had marked Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas -the terrorist group and Yasser Arafat for death. But why was Jesus marked for death? He did not kill anyone; in fact he taught even his disciples to love their enemies and pray for them. He was the advocate of love, yet the Jews had marked him for death. Jesus knew that he was marked for death, yet he was not afraid of death. He marched towards it. He had a mission in his life and that was to save the world through his death. All people in this world are born to live, but Jesus was born to die. But for Jesus it was a goal he was pursuing. Although, He knew that he would be killed in Jerusalem, still he marched towards his death triumphantly. John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' Who is Jesus to you and me? H.G. Wells, the British historian and novelist, was a non-Christian. To him, Jesus was no more than the world's greatest teacher. He held Jesus in great esteem, but would not make a personal commitment to him. To C.S. Lewis, British theologian, this was both strange and unacceptable. He felt Wells, evaluation of Jesus was inconsistent with his belief. Lewis thought if Wells had such a personal admiration for Jesus, why could he not make a personal commitment? Jesus is surely far more than a great teacher -he is the son of God, he is God made man, he is our Lord and Saviour. To quote C.S. Louis, "When it comes to Jesus, you can't have your cake and eat it too - there is just no room for a compromise. Only four choices are open to you. Jesus was either a fool to be pitied, a mad man to be shunned, a devil to be stoned, or the Lord to be adored." Very rightly and wisely, each and every one of us has opted for the last - we respectfully and gratefully honour Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. James Valladares in 'Your Words O Lord, Are Spirit, and They are Life' May we, as we journey along the way of the Cross, encounter Him walking with us! Fr. Jude Botelho judebote...@yahoo.co.in 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.
