GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD
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Fifth Sunday of Easter

4/24/2016

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The renowned artist Paul Gustave Dore’ once lost his passport while travelling in Europe. When he came to a border crossing (at that time there was no Shengen Agreement) he explained his predicament to one of the guards. Giving his name to the official, Dore’ hoped he would be recognized and allowed to pass. The guard, however, said that many people attempted to cross the border by claiming to be persons they were not. Dore’ insisted that he was the man he claimed to be. "All right," said the official, "we'll give you a test, and if you pass it we'll allow you to go through." Handing him a pencil and a sheet of paper, he told the artist to sketch several peasants standing nearby. Dore’ did it so quickly and skillfully that the guard was convinced he was indeed who he claimed to be. His action confirmed his identity.

We tend to use uniforms, badges and other things to tell others who we are. Students, especially in certain private schools put on a uniform to show which school they belong to – to be distinguished from other students of other schools.  Soldiers and cops wear uniforms to show who they are and somehow one understands what their role is. We wear badges that show to which clubs we belong to and so on.

We Christians have our own distinctive mark, but we tend to have a problem in showing who we are and what we stand for. We ignore Jesus’ prescription because it is more than putting on a uniform or attaching a badge. It demands a lot because it is not in the way we dress but in the way we live. During his Last Supper with his disciples Jesus told them: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another... By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Love is the Christian identity. Love is the Christian uniform. Love is the Christian distinctive mark. If you wear the uniform of love, you are fine, but if not, you have a problem.

We do not show our love simply by telling others: “I love you.” That phrase has been used and abused quite a lot. If you do not mean what you say, why say it? We show love to others:
  • By how we behave towards them;
  • By our sensitivity to their needs;
  • By acknowledging and appreciating their talents;
  • By being there for their needs, no matter what;
  • By treating them as equal to us if not better;
  • By never saying anything that might tarnish their reputation, even if it is true;
  • By seeing Jesus in them, even in those we might consider them as enemies.

We are to be Christ’s witnesses to the people around us and our witnessing being effective is not based so much on how eloquent we are, but on how loving we are. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul tells us that no matter what we do, if we do not have love, we are nothing... it would be of no value to us.

We tend to place love and whatever challenges us at a distance. We are always willing to postpone good things, but we do bad things right away. We would like to postpone love, faith and hope, whereas we attend to fear, greed, envy and anger at once. The best thing that we have, St. Paul tells us, is love. We cannot keep postponing it. Deep down in our hearts we know that love is now or never.

What a world would it be if our love were to be as quick and as warm and as long-lasting as our hate!

Where love is concerned, many a time we look towards the future, but the future exists in our head and nowhere else. So do not tell me that you are going to start loving in the future. Tell me what you are doing now.

Who are we? What are we? We are what we are doing now. If we do not love others now, we are not loving persons and we have nothing to say about love. And if we have nothing to say about love... how can we love God? If we do not love now, we know nothing about God, as St. John tells us that if we do not love we do not know God because God is love.

Do you really know God?
 


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Third Sunday of Easter

4/9/2016

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When you, applying for a job, present a CV, it is better to be an impressive one if you want to stand a chance of being interviewed, let alone of getting the job.

What if there were a call for applications to become a Pope, what CV would one present? What questions would they ask during the interview?
In the Gospel, Jesus asks Peter three questions: “Do you love me?” Now let’s face it: Peter’s CV was far from being an impressive one, at least for the good reason: By the fire, on Thursday before the crucifixion, for three times denied to know Jesus.

Peter found it hard to forgive himself or to accept that he had denied for three times his friend and Master. And when the cock crew, Peter wept bitterly. He realized what he had done: he has failed his Master... he has denied his friend. Peter could not accept it, he could not live with it and he wept. He could not stoop lower than that.

Now with this record, who would have thought that, Jesus would even think to consider Peter to be the shepherd of his flock? But Jesus’ criteria are not our criteria. He looks at the heart of man and looking at Peter’s heart, Jesus knew that Peter was fit for purpose. Why? Didn’t also Judas betray Jesus? But Peter was different than Judas. Peter learnt from his mistake and grew through it whereas Judas let himself to be conquered by his sin. After his shortcoming, Peter reformed himself whereas Judas closed himself from God’s love and mercy. Peter moved from his sinfulness, Judas did not.

By the fire, on Thursday before the crucifixion, Peter, three times denied to know Jesus. By the fire, on this Easter day, Jesus asks Peter to shepherd his sheep. Jesus, not only did He forgive Peter’s sin but also showed enough trust in him and chose him to be the first Pope.

Like Peter and Judas and the rest of the apostles we have our own sins and shortcomings, and Jesus, as He did with Peter is always ready to forgive our sins and to trust us. Jesus does not leave us enslaved by our past sins. Jesus gives us the possibility to be freed from our past sins. As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “The one who is in Christ is a new creature. For him the old things have passed away; a new world has come.” (2Cor 5:17)

Peter’s experience could also be our experience if only we have the courage to accept God’s forgiveness and love. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation we can obtain the forgiveness from Jesus. He forgives us and loves us inspite of the fact that we have denied him, we have disbelieved in him, we have given up on him, we have sinned against him. It takes courage to believe in God, to believe that God is ready to forgive us when we repent, to believe that notwithstanding everything God keeps on loving us. We need the courage to accept God’s love and mercy and to accept ourselves.

After his despair, Peter recovered his faith and was able to say: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you!” Peter has to be our role-model for our repentance and reforming ourselves. We should not allow our past to overcome us as in the case of Judas, but we should allow Jesus to work in us and lead us to our repentance and reform and we should let him to put us to work for him again.
 
 


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SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

4/3/2016

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I imagine that whenever the Second Sunday of Easter is near, St Thomas might get a little uneasy. He might be saying: “Here we go again! Who knows how many people will make fun of me because I did not believe!” And to add insult to injury we call “Doubting Thomas” whoever does not believe. But we do this because we focus on just a detail in the whole picture. If we were to look at the picture in its totality we would be seeing Thomas in a different light.

We would realize that a big change happened in Thomas – from an apostle who doubted in Christ’s resurrection, he went on to declare not only his belief in his Master’s resurrection but he also acknowledged Him to be God. His declaration: “My Lord and my God!” is a loaded expression.

What had happened? An encounter between Thomas and Jesus’ love had taken place. He encountered the loving Heart of Jesus when he put his hand on Christ’s wounded side.

When the soldier on calvary pierced Christ’s side, blood and water came out of the wound. In it the Church always saw the Sacraments which give her its vitality especially the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Besides Jesus himself told us that out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water which is the Holy Spirit. Therefore when Thomas came face to face with the wounded side of Christ he realized that he has come face to face with the love of the Heart of Jesus for him.

He has encountered the wounded Heart of Jesus, wounded out of its love for humanity. It is the heart that has burdened itself with the sin of man. Because this is what love does: it suffers for others, and Thomas was in the presence of the wounded love. He understood that the suffering of this Sacred Heart is the result of man’s ingratitude. Thomas understood also that, in Jesus, he was in the presence of the Divine Mercy who became man.

It is this Divine Mercy that has taken upon itself the sin of humanity instead of punishing humanity for its transgressions. Because that is what the Divine Mercy does: it forgives, heals and renews man. This is what Thomas experienced in its presence and his heart became a heart full of love because he had experienced forgiveness, healing and renewal.

When Jesus appeared to the apostles the week before, he gave them his Holy Spirit, not as in Pentecost, but in a new way and for a specific reason: so that their heart will be like his: a forgiving and loving heart. He gave them the mission of changing man’s heart and make it a heart like the Heart of Jesus: an understanding heart, a heart full of mercy and love for all.


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    Author

    Fr. Karm S. Borg MSSP is a Maltese Catholic priest within the Missionary Society of St. Paul until recently ministering at St.Paul the Apostle Parish,
    Toronto, ON, Canada.
    Now he resides in Malta at St. Agatha's Motherhouse, Rabat.

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