Sunday Reflection 18 August 2013

  Luke 12:49-53

"I have come to bring fire to the earth"

  Luke 12:49-53

Last Sunday’s Gospel brings us some shocking message from Jesus who said that he has come to bring fire on earth and divide the people and families not unite them. It may be very confusing that Jesus says that but if we look around us we see the truth in what he said.

Yes, everywhere there is pain, suffering and injustice. God tells us to do good but good seem to be always losing and evil winning with so sight of God’s intervention. We want God to come and deliver us from our pain and suffering but He seems to ignore us. We pray and continue to do good but yet we seem to lose all the time. Everyone however rich and mighty has problems and there is no happiness. In fact if we look around nobody is really happy. For many one tragedy follows another.  Those we love so dearly leave us, our families are divided, our children ill-treat us and our siblings and friends turn against us.Our lives are set on fire which continues to burn us.

Well Jesus says life is not going to smooth sailing, especially if we are to follow him. It is full of torments, trials and failures. He had demonstrated this in his own brutal death on the cross. He spoke the truth, helped the poor and preached justice but he was crucified in the most cruel way. 

To me life is a big test of our endurance in doing right in an environment of wrong and evil. It is a test of how strong we are in standing up for good against evil. It is a test of our will to stand against the evils in the world – greed, selfishness and lust. Despite all these trials, Jesus says he loves us and his word is the hope we have, that God loves us despite all the setbacks he makes us go through. It is the unshakeable trust in God that should make us soldier on when everyone leave us to continue our arduous journey all alone.

Gospel, Luke 12:49-53

'I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!

There is a baptism I must still receive, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!

'Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

For from now on, a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three;  father opposed to son, son to father, mother to daughter, daughter to mother, mother-in-law to daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law to mother-in-law.'

A prayer for fathers

Prayer for dads on this Father’s Day

On this special day for fathers let's pray God that bless all the fathers with good health, peace & happiness.

Those who are lonely be their company Lord
Those who are sick grant them speedy recovery.
Those who are dying give them courage to face death with peace of mind
Those who are neglected by their children console them
Those who are sad bring them happiness
Those who hopeless give them hope                                                                                                                                                                                      Those struggling financially to cater for their family, grant the monetary support                                                                                                                                                                                Those distressed with the problems of their children, help them find the solutions

Soften the hardened hearts of children who are disobedient, rude and disrespectful to their fathers and touch those who are ungrateful
Lord make us the instruments of peace and love for all fathers who need some comfort and solace in their lives

Lord please bless these and all fathers wherever there are and in whatever state they may be as   You alone what they need and deserve.

Happy Father's Day

Pope surprises students with unscripted Q+A session

 http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=18096

Pope Francis revealed that he never wanted to be the Pope, and that he has chosen not to live in the papal apartments for the sake of his mental health, in a candid exchange with students on June 7.

At a meeting with students from Jesuit-run schools in Italy and Albania, along with their teachers and relatives, the Pope decided to set aside a 5-page prepared address. “It’s a little boring,” he told the students. Instead he asked the students to pose questions. “That way we can talk,” he said.

Asked why he had decided to live in the Vatican guest house, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, rather than in the papal apartments, the Holy Father replied that “it’s a question of personality.” He explained that it was not because the papal apartments are luxurious, and not because he considers himself more virtuous than other pontiffs. “I can’t live alone; do you understand?” he said. “I need to live among people, and if I lived alone—perhaps rather isolated—it wouldn’t be good for me.”

When a young girl asked whether he wanted to be Pope, Francis quickly replied in the negative. “God does not bless a person who wants to be Pope,” he said. “I didn’t want to be Pope.”

In answer to a question about why be became a Jesuit, Pope Francis said that he had originally wanted to be a missionary, and had asked for an assignment to Japan, but was told that because of his health he was better suited for work in his native Argentina. Nevertheless he said that the missionary spirit is at the core of the Jesuit vocation: “going out to announce Jesus Christ and not becomgin too closed within our worlds.”

Another girls asked the Pope if he stayed in touch with his own boyhood friends. He said that he had enjoyed a few visits from old Argentine friends, and heard regularly from others. “I see them, I write to them,” he said. “You can’t live your life without friends.”

An elementary school girl asked if the Pope continued to see his friends from grade school. “But I've only been Pope for two and a half months,” he answered. But he understood her concern and continued “My friends are 14 hours away from here by plane, right? They're far from here, but I want to tell you something, three of them came to find me and greet me and I see them and they write to me and I love them very much. You can't live without friends, that's important.”

A boy asked about lapses of faith, and the Pope encouraged him with the reply: “Always remember this: you must not be afraid of failure or taking a tumble. The art of walking is not about not falling at all but learning to pick yourself up and carry on. If you fall down, get up quickly and go on walking.” 

In responses to other students’ questions the Pope said that the persistence of poverty in today’s world is a scandal, and that Christians have a duty to become involved in political affairs. “Politics is dirty, but the reason it has become dirty is that Christians didn’t get deeply enough involved in the evangelical spirit,” he said. “Working for the common good is a Christian duty.”

Call for Universal Prayer in unity

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Intentions of Pope Francis in universal call for prayer

1-     For the Church spread throughout the world and united today in the adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist as a sign of unity. May the Lord make her ever more obedient to hearing his Word in order to stand before the world ‘ever more beautiful, without stain or blemish, but holy and blameless.’ That through her faithful announcement, the Word that saves may still resonate as the bearer of mercy and may increase love to give full meaning to pain and suffering, giving back joy and serenity.
  

2.    For those around the world who still suffer slavery and who are victims of war, human trafficking, drug running, and slave labor. For the children and women who are suffering from every type of violence. May their silent scream for help be heard by a vigilant Church so that, gazing upon the crucified Christ, she may not forget the many brothers and sisters who are left at the mercy of violence.-     Also, for all those who find themselves in economically precarious situations, above all for the unemployed, the elderly, migrants, the homeless, prisoners, and those who experience marginalization. That the Church’s prayer and its active nearness give them comfort and assistance in hope and strength and courage in defending human dignity.

Let us join the holy father and fellow Catholics all over pray that our Church can stand shamelessly in defending truth and also for all those in need of freedom,finance and moral courage to defend their dignity.Let us pray for our nation in our fight against racism,corruption and injustice.May the good triumph over evil.

Pope Francis : Church must help poor, not ‘speak of theology’

 

 

 VOL. 149 (CXLIX) NO. 21 Kolkata MAY 24 - 30, 2013

Pope Francis insists Church must help poor,

not ‘speak of theology’

 By Philip Pullella

 Vatican City: Pope Francis shared personal moments with 200,000 people on Saturday, telling them he sometimes nods off while praying at the end of a long day and that it “breaks my heart” that the death of a homeless person is not news

Francis, who has made straight talk and simplicity a hallmark of his papacy, made his unscripted comments in answers to questions by four people at a huge international gathering of Catholic associations in St Peter’s Square.

But he outdid himself in passionately discussing everything from the memory of his grandmother to his decision to become a priest, from political corruption to his worries about a Church that too often closes in on itself instead of looking outward.

“If we step outside of ourselves, we will find poverty,” he said, repeating his call for Catholics to do more to seek out those on the fringes of society who need help the most,” he said from the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica

“Today, and it breaks my heart to say it, finding a homeless person who has died of cold, is not news. Today, the news is scandals, that is news, but the many children who don’t have food - that’s not news. This is grave. We can’t rest easy while things are this way.”

The crowd, most of whom are already involved in charity work, interrupted him often with applause.

“We cannot become starched Christians, too polite, who speak of theology calmly over tea. We have to become courageous Christians and seek out those (who need help most),” he said.

To laughter from the crowd, he described how he prays each day before an altar before going to bed.

“Sometimes I doze off, the fatigue of the day makes you fall asleep, but he (God) understands,” he said.

CRISIS OF VALUES

Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, said the world was going through not just an economic crisis but a crisis of values.

“This is happening today. If investments in banks fall, it is a tragedy and people say ‘what are we going to do?’ but if people die of hunger, have nothing to eat or suffer from poor health, that’s nothing. This is our crisis today. A Church that is poor and for the poor has to fight this mentality,” he said.

Many in the crowd planned to stay in the square overnight to pray and prepare for Francis’ Mass on Sunday, when the Catholic Church marks Pentecost, the day it teaches that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles.

On May 18, Saturday morning, Francis met German Chancellor Angela Merkel and discussed Europe’s economic crisis.

Apparently responding to his criticism of a heartless “dictatorship of the economy” earlier in the week, Merkel, who is up for re-election in September, later called for stronger regulation of financial markets.

On May 16, Thursday, Francis appealed in a speech for world financial reform, saying the global economic crisis had made life worse for millions in rich and poor countries. 

Very exiting and encouraging  news from the Holy Father who speaks up against preaching theology but not helping the poor.A very good advice for all of us especially ultra-traditional Catholics and clergy.What Pope Francis says should have been the standard teaching of the Church over the years.It is a pity the Church has deviated so drastically from the real path of Jesus - caring for the poor instead of being preoccupied with theology.

Let us in our own small ways follow the Holy Father in helping the marginalized in our society and not be preoccupied with theology as to the poor and destitute theology has no meaning but charity is all they need.