Sunday thoughts

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If we love Jesus, we sense a growing desire within ourselves to
know the life-giving experience contained in his words. The life-
giving experience comes, in part, through our service to others,
in imitation of Jesus. But what kind of service can there be
without a recollected and loving heart? Spend quiet time with
your God, and your God will teach you the kind of love that will
open your heart. And then your heart is opened, true service to
others will follow as a natural consequence. All things of value
find their genesis in the silence of a heart open to receive the
inspiration of the Spirit of Jesus.

 

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Second thoughts

In a certain country, in which bread was the staple diet of the people, the wheat crop failed several years in a row. As a result, famine raged throughout the land. The king, who was renowned for his kindness, was very concerned. As soon as the famine broke out, he went abroad to look for bread for his people. Naturally the famine affected the poor most of all. Skeletal children roamed the street s in search of bread that wasn’t to be had. They died like flies. The rich also suffered from the famine, though not to the same degree. They had the money with which to buy bread from abroad. However, far from sharing it with their poorer brothers, they kept it jealously to themselves. But the foreign bread was clearly not the genuine article. It lacked some vital ingredient. While it kept those who ate it alive it did not nourish them.

A cloud of gloom hung over the entire land, and it was the poor who were in the deepest shadow. They had placed all their hopes in the king. But why was he taking so long to come to their aid? Then one day the king’ s messenger entered the capital and cried out:‘Rejoice! I come with good news for all the people.’ Good news? You mean bread is on the way? The people asked.‘Yes, my friends. The king is on his way with an unlimited supply of the finest bread.’ Could it really be true that everybody needed and longed for was on its way at last? Spirits soared. The poor danced for joy on the streets. The rich were a little more restrained in their manifestation of happiness, only a little. But then they suffered a change of mood. Someone claimed to have heard the royal messenger say that the bread would be free. Why should that upset them? Because it didn’t make sense to them. It wasn’t right!‘This can’t be true’, they said.‘The King will charge for the bread. And it’ s only right that he should. People don’ t appreciate what they get for nothing.’ But the royal messenger said that the bread would be for everybody. Presumably “ everybody ” includes us poor? ”‘It will be for everybody who has earned the money to buy it,’ the rich replied, emphasising the word “ earned ”. To their way of thinking the poor were poor through a combination of ignorance, inefficiency and laziness. Whereas they were rich, not through circumstances, but through a combination of intelligence, hard work and efficiency.

But that means then that it is only good news for those with money, in other words, for the rich. But the messenger said he had good news for everybody. Therefore, the bread has to be free.’‘Don’ t be silly! Mo man would be so crazy as to give good bread away for nothing.’ The royal messenger was still in the country. So, they sought him out and put the question directly to him. He answered like this: “ The bread will be absolutely free. I thought I made that clear. And one further thing: the distribution will begin with the poor.’‘But why begin with the poor?’ asked the rich.‘Why not begin with us?’ Surely, we are the more deserving? After all, we are his majesty’ s loyal subjects. We keep his laws and pay his taxes, unlike these others.’ The messenger replied:‘Why begin with the poor? Because they are the most needy.’

However, the good news must not be limited to spiritual blessings only. The poor are all the wounded and little ones; the blind, the oppressed, captives, and all those who are waiting for the liberator. Jesus did not come to minister to the wealthy, the privileged and powerful. There is no liberation for those, who bloated with pride and conviction of their own virtue, do not see themselves as sinners and in need of redemption. Nor is there liberation for those who, relying on things that counted for nothing with Jesus (power and privilege), think they deserve it before everybody else.‘Happy are you who are poor: yours is the kingdom of heaven.’

 

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Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord. Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village opposite, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” you shall say this, “The Lord has need of it.” So those who were sent went away and found it as he told them And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt they set Jesus upon it. As he rose along, they spread their garments on the road. As he was drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the might works they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Today’s liturgy teaches us that the Lord has not saved us by his triumphal entry or by means of powerful miracles. The Apostle Paul, in the second reading, epitomizes in two verbs the path of redemption: Jesus “emptied” and “humbled” himself (Phil 2:7-8). These two verbs show the boundlessness of God’s love for us. Jesus emptied himself: he did not cling to the glory that was his as the Son of God, but became the Son of man in order to be in solidarity with us sinners in all things; yet he was without sin. Even more, he lived among us in “the condition of a servant” (v. 7); not of a king or a prince, but of a servant. Therefore he humbled himself, and the abyss of his humiliation, as Holy Week shows us, seems to be bottomless. God’s way of acting may seem so far removed from our own, that he was annihilated for our sake, while it seems difficult for us to even forget ourselves a little. He comes to save us; we are called to choose his way: the way of service, of giving, of forgetfulness of ourselves. Let us walk this path, pausing in these days to gaze upon the Crucifix; it is the “royal seat of God”. I invite you during this week to gaze often upon this “royal seat of God”, to learn about the humble love which saves and gives life, so that we may give up all selfishness, and the seeking of power and fame. By humbling himself, Jesus invites us to walk on his path. Let us turn our faces to him, let us ask for the grace to understand at least something of the mystery of his obliteration for our sake; and then, in silence, let us contemplate the mystery of this Week.