10-Jul-2013 Dear Friend,
We often complain that we have no time for ourselves because we have so many things to do. Yet when we do have free time on our hands we fill that time with all kinds of activities. Somehow we cannot sit still doing nothing! Even in our relationships with others, we want to do something. Often, more than our actions, people need our presence. In our relationship with God, do we want to do something for Him or can we just be with Him? Have a quiet weekend discovering God the stranger in our midst! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: 16th Sunday of the Year "Welcome, entertain God, the stranger in our midst!" 21-Jul-2013 Readings: Genesis 18: 1-10Colossians 1: 24-28Luke 10: 38-42 Today's first reading from Genesis describes God's homely visit to the house of Abraham and the warm welcome and generous hospitality God receives from Abraham. God appears in the garbs of three strangers who are passing by in front of Abraham's tent as he relaxes at mid-day. He does not recognize the divine visitors immediately but he goes out of his way to welcome them into his home and to offer them the best meal he can offer to make them comfortable. The strangers come with a special blessing from God for Abraham and his wife Sarah. After enjoying their hospitality, the strangers announce the promise of God that Sarah will bear a son. The story reveals how God deals familiarly and personally with his friends and is interested in their personal well-being. We need to be open to God's coming and promises. In Greek mythology the story is told of how God Jupiter once visited the earth with his son Mercury. They disguised themselves as weary travelers and knocked on many doors in their search for shelter. Time after time they were ignored and left in the street. Eventually they came to a small cottage which was the home of an old couple Philemon and Baucis. When the two travelers knocked on the door, it was soon opened and they were welcomed inside. The old man filled a bowl with hot water so that the guests could wash; the old woman put on her apron and started to prepare a meal. While all this was happening the conversation flowed easily but no identities were revealed. When all was ready, the hot stew was placed on the table with a pitcher of wine. But as the wine was drunk it renewed itself in the pitcher, and the old couple were struck with terror when they realized they were entertaining gods. They implored forgiveness for their poor hospitality but the gods invited them to make a wish. As they discussed it in between them the old couple expressed their shared prayer: "Since we have passed our life together in love and concord we wish to die at the same time so neither of us has to live in grief." Their prayer was answered and when they grew very old they both died in peace. - We are all visited by God and invited to welcome Him and his word and give it our full attention. The way we continue having God as our guest, is when we welcome his word and attend to it. In a way, we are the Lord's host and guest. Denis McBride in 'Seasons of the Word' In today's gospel Jesus speaks of keeping the greatest of the commandments -the only commandment to be observed, the commandment of love. He combines the teaching of the law from Deuteronomy and Leviticus: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and love your neighbour as yourself.' The disciples were ready to accept the first part of the commandment, that of loving God with full commitment, but who is the neighbour whom they were called to love? Is the neighbour literally the one next door? Is the neighbour a person of my ethnic group? Is my neighbour one from my religious sect or group? Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that neither religion, nor nationality can set limits to one's responsibility to come to the aid of our fellow human being. The duty to help a needy human being cannot be coloured by personal feelings or inclinations. The Samaritan showed by his actions that he recognized his neighbour even in the hated Jew. The lawyer who came to Jesus asked: Who is my neighbour? Jesus could have answered with a definition or short answer but he was more concerned about responding to the person behind the question. After telling the parable Jesus asked the lawyer, 'Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour?' The changed question shifted the emphasis from defining the restrictions of neighbourly love to exploring the demands of love. We therefore dare not ask, 'Who is my neighbour?' but rather, 'How can I be a good neighbour?' The love of God cannot be separated from the love of our neighbour. There is only one commandment and there can be only one love, the love of God seen in the way we deal with any and every human being. God is love and the only way to come to him is in love. The time for this love is now. And the place for its expression is today's reality as it meets me on the road and stares me in the face. We do not live on bread alone I remember some years ago when I used to visit home, I just wanted to spend a little time sitting and talking and my mother was always trying to serve something to eat, even if I had just had supper. Frustrating! Now she is in a nursing home and when I visit, she is not trying to feed me. We both just enjoy the visit. On the other hand, I have heard from so many wives how their husbands never have time to sit down and talk. They're always busy doing something or else half asleep in front of the TV. They complain "I feel like I'm all alone." In too many families today, the family members are too busy to listen to one another, to talk to one another, to feed one another emotionally. We do not live on bread alone! In today's gospel Jesus says; "Mary has chosen the better part." Perhaps he was saying to Martha, "This is a golden opportunity; here is the Son of God coming to visit you and you're worried about chopping up the parsley!" or perhaps he was saying "you're trying to put out an eight course meal, Martha, and we would be happy with just a sandwich," or perhaps he was saying "maybe we ought to think of feeding the spirit before feeding our faces;" or perhaps he was saying "maybe we need to spend a little time enjoying each other's company before we get all uptight about dinner." Joe Robinson in 'Guiding Light' Focus on what is more important There was a man who wanted to prove his love for his wife. So he climbed the highest mountain and swam the deepest sea. When he returned, his wife was gone because he was never at home! There is another story about a father who after work would take a long walk with his teenage daughter. He took great pleasure in her company. Suddenly she began to offer almost daily excuses as to why she could not accompany him. He was hurt but he held his tongue. Finally his birthday arrived. His daughter presented him a sweater she had knitted. Then he realized that she had done her knitting when he was out of the house for his walk. He said to her, "Martha, Martha, I do appreciate this sweater. But I value your company infinitely more. A sweater I can buy in any store. But you I cannot buy. Please never abandon me again." -People need company, a listener. In our daily life, it is important to focus on the right thing. Sometime we forget what is important and we focus on the wrong thing. This is what the gospel reading teaches us today. John Pichappilly in 'The Table of the Word' "Jesus drops by to visit his friends Mary and Martha. Martha fussed about getting a meal for Jesus while Mary sits listening to him. Mary complains about the unfairness of the situation but Jesus seems to take the part of Mary and says, "Martha. Martha, you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her." This story is not a condemnation of activity and an extolling of contemplation. The story comes immediately after the Parable of the Good Samaritan which has the clear message that you cannot be a loving person if you do not get up and do something for others. The story makes the point that if our activity is to be wise and fruitful there must also be times of stillness, of prayer, of being in touch with our own inner worlds and being open to intimacy - to hear the inner worlds of others. Christian meditation is just being still in the presence of the Lord. It is a being still with truth, the creation of a space where our inner selves can speak. It is a way of accepting our whole being in such a way that our inner spiritual and emotional lives will be integrated with the activities in which we engage. It is a prayer that will make us recognize the subtle ways in which we all become imprisoned and lead us out of these prisons into more wholesome relationships with ourselves, others and ultimately with God." Gerry Pierse What a waste of time! The wedding of Tessie and John was one of the great social events of the early 1980's. The social columns in the newspapers wrote up how lovely they looked and how blessed they both were with foreign degrees in management. As addition to their competence they also had enough family influence to land them in managerial positions within a few years. Now, fourteen years later they have four beautiful children living in a beautiful house, cared for by the best maids, attended to by the best physicians when they get sick, enrolled in the best schools. They themselves leave the house early in the morning in their separate cars. They are successful but at a price. They are slaves of the culture in which they live and of the expectations that their roles impose on them. They often have to socialize with the right people even if they would much prefer to be at home. Seldom do they have time to really be with one another - to be without a schedule or an agenda. The children have become projects to be managed rather than human beings with which to waste time. Already the school has been reporting rebellious attention gaining behavior in their eldest child. How could this be when they had got the best of everything from their parents? Maybe they got presents instead of presence! -The story of Tessie and John might be a modern parable on the issue that Jesus tackles in today's Gospel story. Gerry Pierse in 'Sundays into Silence' God is frequently calling on us! May we be hospitable and caring towards our neighbour! 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.
