Dear Friend,
We sometimes notice that people have really changed and are not what they used to be. Is it possible to change? Conversion and repentance is the same as change. We know that we are constantly called to repentance. Since we keep slipping back into our old ways, what can really bring about a true conversion in us? Does God expect us to change as well? Have a transforming weekend! -Fr. Jude ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Sunday Reflections: Third Sunday of the Year Repent or else. ? 26-01-2003 Readings: Jonah 3: 1-5, 10 1 Corinthians 7: 29-31 Mark 1: 14-20 In the first reading we hear the word of God addressed to Jonah the prophet telling him to go to Niniveh to ask the people to repent. We know Jonah's story - he was a reluctant prophet and did not want to go on this difficult mission, so he went in the opposite direction, wanting to escape the Lord's command, with disastrous consequences. Finally chastened, he went to the people and preached to them. He threatened them and warned them: "Only forty days more and Niniveh is going to be destroyed." He did not expect the people to listen to him and believe him, but the people listened and believed and repented! God accepted their repentance and saved them from the disaster. Strangely, Jonah was disappointed that the people were not punished, upset, that they had repented! We know the point of the Jonah story: God wants all people to repent that their sins may be forgiven and God longs to forgive anyone who repents. Jonah and the Jews of his time thought differently. Since the people of Niniveh had caused a lot of harm to the people of Israel, they thought God should punish them rather than forgive them. When Jonah preached he did not say God would forgive them if they repented he rather threatened them with God's punishment and when God forgave the Ninivites he complained bitterly against God. Jonah is a perfect example of how we so often expect God to act like us and punish those who do not fall in line; those who cause us harm; those whom we cannot see eye to eye with. We believe in justice for others but mercy towards us! But our God is a God of mercy and compassion ever ready to forgive. He is more ready to forgive than we are to repent of our sins. He can take our sinfulness and change it into a moment of grace if we let him do so. Turning evil to good A lady once showed Ruskin a costly handkerchief on which had fallen a large blot of ink. "What a shame!" she moaned. "It is absolutely good for nothing now. It is totally spoiled. Ruskin said nothing but asked to borrow the handkerchief for a day. The next day he handed it to her without a word, and the lady delightedly saw that, using the blot as a starting point, the great artist had designed an intriguing pattern on that corner of the handkerchief. Now it was actually worth more than it had ever been before the blot had disfigured it. Bruno Hagspiel from -Tonic from the Heart in 1000 Bottles Today's gospel stresses Jesus' call to repentance, which is repeated time and again in the gospels: "Repent and believe in the good news, the Kingdom of God is close at hand!" It is the same call that Jonah preached to the people of his time and yet it is different. While Jonah threatened them and warned them of the impending disaster if they did not repent, Jesus on the other hand invites, urges and pleads with every one to turn away from sin, not out of fear of being punished, but for a much higher motive, to enable them to enter the Kingdom of God. We notice that there are two distinct parts to this invitation: 'to repent', that is to break away from sin and its consequences, which is what the word conversion means, and the second part: 'to believe in the good news', namely to accept Jesus' teachings and follow him. Both go hand in hand and one without the other does not make sense. If we are to follow Jesus Christ we have to repent, we have to change, we have to be converted. Conversion means changing one's direction, retracing one's steps and if by sin we have moved away from God then we are called to turn around and walk in God's direction, come closer to him. If we persist in our old ways, then we have not really been converted. For some this conversion is a radical right about turn, for others it is a gradual moving away from doing our thing to doing God's will and living fully for him. This conversion is a life-time process and implies a true change of heart. Sometimes we might be complacent with external peripheral changes but our heart is really not converted. They can't take away my thoughts! A girl had been quite naughty. Because she wouldn't say she was sorry, her mother had punished her by taking away her toys and sending her to bed. When her father came from work he went upstairs to see her, and said he was sure, if she would only apologise, mother would serve her supper and return her toys. The little girl looked up with a determined look, quite unrepentant and said, "Daddy, they've taken away my toys, and they've taken away my supper, but they can't take away my thoughts! She insisted on keeping 'her thoughts' no matter what! Yet, just that is essential for repentance. Dr. Purnell Bailey God invites everyone to conversion, saint and sinner alike and everyone stands in need of conversion. The whole of scripture is a continuous invitation to repentance. It is not enough to repent once and be satisfied with our conversion. Sin and the effects of sin keep dragging us down and we slip into former sinful ways if we are not always in the process of repentance. It is for this reason that we are constantly reminded to beg for forgiveness and not rest on our laurels. While conversion demands that we put in a daily effort, we should remember that conversion itself is a gift of God and is only possible with God's help. Only God can move our hearts to repentance. Yet, God will not force us to change and he leaves us free to accept his help to come out of our misery or to continue with our sinful ways. Today's gospel reminds us that repentance is one side of the coin, one aspect of growing process, the changing process. It could be compared to an emptying process, getting rid of sin and the consequences of sin and its effects in our lives. There is the other part that is equally essential, believing in the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot be satisfied with just the emptying process, we have to be filled with the goodness, the kindness, the mercy and the love of God. Our conversion is complete when we have believed in Jesus and accepted him fully and surrendered completely to him. To enter into the Kingdom of God one has to daily listen to God's call and generously respond to it. Our conversion is seen in the living out of our choice for God, His kingdom and the values of the Kingdom of God. The last part of the gospel gives us an example of conversion and believing in the good news in the call of the apostles. Jesus sees Simon and his brother Andrew casting their net in the lake and he says to them, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And at once they left their nets and followed him." Just as Jesus saw Simon and Andrew and called them, Jesus sees us and calls us by name to leave behind, the things that we are used to, the things that we feel we cannot live without, the things that we sometimes feel are our life. This is the call to conversion that often is very difficult. "Surely, the Lord is not asking me to change something that is so much a part of my life?" "Lord you are asking for the impossible, ask me anything else, not this!" Yet the Lord does not force us or threaten us with disaster if we do not respond. He is ready to wait for us to change and do what will ultimately be the best for us. Conversion is not a 'giving up' but a 'giving into his hands.' We change so that we might follow him. Our conversion is seen in our readiness to act for Him and for His kingdom. Those who care and those. It was a crowded day at the Jersey shore: the weather was hot and the beach overflowed with bathers. A woman was splashing in the surf when she accidentally stepped off the sandbar and dropped into a swift undertow that dragged her under the water. Frantically, she struggled to escape the strong current, yelling for help. At least twenty adults watched from the shoreline, apparently paralyzed, until a young man sprinted into the surf, swam out to her and helped her back to the beach. A witness to the event described the episode to the beach patrol. He spoke of his admiration for the young man who responded so quickly, and of his contempt for all those who stood by and failed to act. "The woman had been in a dangerous situation and those people didn't even seem to care," he grumbled. The officer looked at the man and said. "The world often seems to be divided between those who care and those who don't care enough. But don't judge too harshly. It takes courage to care greatly." Arthur Gordon from -Sowers Seeds of Christian Family Values by Brian Cavanaugh May we daily listen to his call to conversion and act for Him! Fr. Jude Botelho [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.netforlife.net ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- 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. =============================================================================== This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===============================================================================
