[Goanet] [JudeSundayReflections] Sixth Sunday of the Year
7-Feb-2010 Dear Friend, All of us want to be happy and whether we admit it or not we keep trying out various paths which we hope will lead us to the happiness we seek. Is there a sure fix recipe for happiness? Can I rely on my efforts or on others to be happy? Or should I rely on God alone the source of true happiness? Jesus by his life showed us the way to happiness and challenged us to acquire his attitudes to be truly happy. Have we tried His path? Have an enjoyable weekend discovering His way! -Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Sixth Sunday of the Year “The choice is yours! Trust God or man!” 14-Feb-2010 Readings: Jeremiah 17: 5-8 1 Corinthians 15: 12, 16-28 Luke 6: 17, 20-26 The first reading from the prophet Jeremiah contains a ‘curse’ and a ‘blessing’ from the prophet. Jeremiah, Yahweh’s mouthpiece says, ‘A curse on the one who puts one’s trust in Man,’ and ‘A blessing on the one who puts his trust in the Lord.’ The context of the prophecy is the fickleness and hardheartedness of the people of Judah, who turned away from Yahweh, as they trusted in the power and might of their armies and those of their allies. They preferred man rather than God and that was the reason for their downfall. The one who trusts in God is like a tree planted by the waterside, whose nourishment is guaranteed and who has no cause for worry. The choice is ours: God or man! Trusting In Others Rather Than In Oneself There was a king who owned a large, perfectly cut diamond. He was very proud of it and made it the national symbol. Unfortunately, the diamond one day got damaged and its beauty was marred by a long, hair-like scratch. Its splendour was gone and its sparkle diminished. The king was very saddened. He gathered all the reputed jewellers for consultation. They all said that it had lost its splendour and value. In desperation, the king sent out word throughout his kingdom, “Anyone who could repair the damaged diamond would be suitably rewarded.” Finally, just when the king was about to give up the hope of restoring the stone, a poor lapidary – a gem engraver came forward to restore it. “Sir,” he said to the king, “this same scratch which has diminished the diamond’s worth will become its most beautiful asset.” The king entrusted the man with the stone, and many weeks passed before his return. Finally, when the lapidary opened his velvet box to display his craftsmanship, the king gasped in amazement. There was the stone – more beautiful than ever, with a beautiful rose carved on it. Only the king could detect that the rose’s graceful stem was the same scratch that had once so ruined the diamond. -If we trust God, he can work all things, even disasters, to our advantage. John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’ In today’s gospel we have Luke’s version of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’, but unlike the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus gives his teaching from a mountain –reminiscent of Moses giving God’s law on Mount Sinai, Luke situates Jesus on the plains. “Jesus came down with the twelve and stopped at a piece of level ground.” Moreover while Matthew has nine ‘beatitudes’ Luke has only four, with each beatitude having its corresponding ‘woe’. While Matthew says “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, Luke will say, “Blessed are you who are poor.” Is Jesus extolling material poverty? Definitely not! Material poverty is bad in itself, since every person is a child of God and one who does not have sufficient material resources struggles to survive in inhuman conditions without the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. What Jesus is talking about is depending and trusting in material possessions or depending on God. Jesus asserts that those who choose God are blessed and those who choose material possessions, are as good as cursed. Jesus says we have to make a choice: we have to choose God or man, riches or poverty. Jesus blesses the poor and delivers a warning to the rich. In doing so he is not exalting material poverty but he is warning of the dangers that the rich face. The rich tend to be content with their present comfortable existence and in their self-sufficiency and tend to forget who their master is. When we have everything that we need then we don’t feel the need of God. We believe that we can manage without Him. He becomes a God for emergencies only and not one on whom we depend on for our daily existence. The Kingdom of God is for those who depend on God, for those who are truly poor and worthy of the blessings of the beatitudes. What do we choose attachment or detachment? In the bible the ‘poor’ refers to the ‘anawim’ which certainly includes those without material resources, but also those who totally trust in God, not man for their support and survival. Such people think little of their possessions and use all their time and talents and possessions for others. Today we are challenged not to get sucked in the rat race for material possess
[Goanet] [JudeSundayReflections] Sixth Sunday of the Year
* G * O * A * N * E * T C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * To Goa with Love - Three unique Valentine Day packages from EXPRESSIONS Say "I Love You!" in style this year For details, photos and pricing check out: http://www.goa-world.com/expressions/valentines/ 5-Feb-2007 Dear Friend, Be happy! Dont worry! Go the words of an old song. Yes, we all want to be happy, we try any secret formula of happiness that worldly wisdom promises as sure prescriptions of happiness. Yet we end up empty and worrying about what needs to be done. What shall we try next? Faith tells us that we need nothing to be happy, no riches, no wealth, no earthly possession, only God! Can God be our happiness? Have a satisfying weekend finding happiness in God alone! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Sixth Sunday In God alone we trust? 11-Feb-2007 Readings: Jeremiah 17: 5-8; Corinthians 15: 12,-16-20; Luke 6:17,20-26; In todays first reading Jeremiah speaks of the choice we have to make of living our lives with God or without God; trusting in him or trusting only in ourselves. Jeremiah describes the consequences of putting our trust only on our human resources. A man who relies on himself alone will waste his life; his live will be lost because there is nothing that will nourish him. On the other hand the man who relies on God will make his life fruitful. He will be like a tree by the waterside, which bears abundant fruit because it is nourished continually. In the words of the psalm: Happy is the man who has placed his trust in the Lord. Distrust if there is no God A certain gentleman came to Paris, as a senator from Southern France. He rented a room in a respectable hotel, and paid for it one month in advance. The owner asked him if he wanted a receipt. A receipt will be unnecessary, replied the senator, God has witnesses the transaction. What! Do you believe in God in this day and age? sneered the hotel manager. Why, most certainly, my friend, was the answer. Dont you? Not I, Monsieur. Ah, in that case, be so kind as to write me out a receipt. Frank Michalic in 1000 Stories You Can Use In his letter to the Corinthians Paul stresses that the resurrection is essential to the understanding of our redemption. Without the resurrection we would still be in our sins. Paul is not setting out an argument but developing the implications of his belief: those who would deny the resurrection of the dead, in so doing reject the resurrection of Christ. Now Christ has risen. To deny that would be to empty the faith of all meaning. The fact that Jesus rose from death proves that truth is stranger than fiction, that love is stronger than hatred, that good is stronger than evil, and that life is stronger than death. Blessed are the Poor! Years ago there was a movie called Quo Vadis. It starred Deborah Kerr and dealt with the persecution of Christians in ancient Rome. One day, after a dangerous filming session, a newspaper reporter asked Deborah Kerr, Werent you frightened when the lions rushed towards you in the arena? Deborah replied, Not at all! Id read the script, and I knew Id be rescued! Deborah Kerrs childlike trust in the stunt men assigned to protect her is a good illustration of the childlike trust that the poor had in God in biblical times. In other words, there are people who find themselves in the same position in which Deborah Kerr found herself during the shooting of the dangerous scene in the movie Quo Vadis. She knew that she was totally helpless. She knew she couldnt protect herself. So she stopped worrying and simply placed all her trust in the stunt men assigned to rescue her. In the same way, many of the poor in Jesus day stopped worrying and simply placed all their trust in God. Mark Link in Sunday Homilies Todays Gospel reading Jesus spells out the core of his teaching in the beatitudes. Jesus mentions four beatitudes here and four woes, but there are many more. Each of them goes against the worlds wisdom. Jesus contrasts two attitudes of the heart. He says that happy people are the poor, the hungry, the sad and those who were hated because of him. And the truly unhappy people are the rich, the full, the laughing, and those who have successfully curried the favour of the world. What was Jesus trying to say? Jesus never intended to call material poverty blessed. Jesus never intended to approve of the poverty that we see in the slums of our cities, and that he also saw in the cities of his times. Jesus was referring to those people without wealth, without influence, and without protection, who put all their hope and trust in God. Thu
