[Goanet] [JudeSundayReflections] 16th Sunday of the Year
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
[Goanet] [JudeSundayReflections] 16th Sunday of the Year
12-Jul-2010 Dear Friend, We have all had the experience of planning, at the beginning of our day what we going to do, and never quite being able to get anything done. There seem to be so many interruptions and unexpected happenings and encounters which take us by surprise. Most people try to get rid of these interruptions and get back to their planned activities. But could it be that God is the God of surprises? Could God be visiting us everyday just to be with us and give us His blessings? Let’s be open and enjoy His unexpected visit and the blessings his presence brings! Relish His present!!! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: 16th Sunday ‘Be Hospitable and receive God’s blessings! 18-June-2010 Genesis 18: 1-10Colossians 1: 24-28 Luke 10: 38-42 The first reading from the Book of Genesis tells of the visit of three strangers who come unexpectedly to the tent-dwelling of Abraham. Abraham sees them as he sits by the entrance and has no hesitation in welcoming them. He accords them a warm welcome and goes out of his way to prepare a tasty meal so that they can relax, enjoy and be nourished before continuing their onward journey. The strangers accept his hospitality and having enjoyed the meal they leave promising to come back the following year. Before leaving they making him a promise that his wife will bear a son. Strangers bring God’s blessings! The Love Squad Oh no! Not company!” I groaned the moment the car rounded the corner and our house came into full view. Usually I’d be thrilled to see four cars lined up in our driveway, but after I spent a week-long vigil at the hospital with an ill child, my house was a colossal mess. Turning off the car engine, I dragged myself to the front door. “What are you doing home so soon?” my friend Judie called from the kitchen. “We weren’t expecting you for another hour!” She walked toward me and gave me a hug, then asked softly, “How are you doing?” Was this my house? Was I dreaming? Everything looked so clean. Where did these flowers come from? Suddenly more voices, more hugs, Lorraine, smiling and wiping beads of perspiration from her forehead, came up from the family room Where she had just finished ironing a mountain of clean clothes. Regina peeked into the kitchen, having finished vacuuming rugs and polishing and dusting furniture in every room in the house. Joan, still upstairs wrestling with the boy’s bunk-bed sheets, called down her “hello,” having already brought order out of chaos in all four bedrooms. “When did you guys get here?” Was my last coherent sentence. “How come….how come... you did all this?” I cried unashamedly, every ounce of resistance gone. I had spent the week praying through a health crisis, begging God for a sense of His presence at the hospital. Instead, He laid a mantle of order, Beauty and loving care into our home through these four “angels.” “You rest a while, Virelle,” Lorraine said firmly. “Here’s your dinner for tonight-there are more meals in the freezer.” “Don’t worry. We’re all praying,” my friends said. “God has everything under control.” After my friends left, I wandered from room to room, still sobbing from the enormity of their gift of time and work. In the living room I found a note under a vase filled with peonies. I was to have come home and found it as their only identity: “The Love Squad was here.” And I knew that God had everything under control. Virelle Kidder from ‘Decision Magazine’ Today’s episode from the gospel according to Luke tells us of the visit of Jesus to the home of Martha and her sister Mary, where apparently he would relax in the company of friends. Jesus was welcomed to this home by both the sisters but in different ways. One preferred to busy herself preparing a delicious meal for the favoured guest, while the other chose to do nothing but just sit at his feet and listen to him. The point of the incident is not to point out which is the better way of welcoming Jesus for both are necessary. Some liken the two ways to two modes of spirituality: the contemplative mode and the spirituality of an active ministry. Here again there cannot be a dichotomy of one or the other for we are all called to contemplation of God and equally to a life of actively serving him. One without the other is incomplete and makes no sense. From our common day to day experience we know that when a friend comes to our home we do not neglect the person or leave the person alone while we get busy preparing a meal. On the other hand we do not spend so much time chatting without offering the person anything. A balance of both is what is required. What is important is the person who has come –a guest into our home, The focus is on the guest and his or her needs not on what we would like to do or give to the person, which might be our need and not the guest’s need. More importantly, the gospel reminds us
