THERE IS NO ROSE , IF THERE IS NO THORN STEMS.4TH Sunday Ordinary
Photo from St Stephen's Church , Mid town New York
Love Never Fails
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
If you know Mary Beth Bonacci’ book called Real Love, she addresses in the opening chapter what are some of the characteristics of [real] love? She says:-
"People use the word "love" a lot of different ways. We hear people saying that I love my mom and dad and also I love pizza.
What am I saying when I say I love my mom and dad? I’m saying that I care about them. I’m saying that if they needed me, I would do everything humanly possible to help them. I’m saying that I always want what is best for them.
But ,When I say I love pizza, I’m just saying that I enjoy eating pizza until I don’t want any more pizza. Once I’m tired of the pizza, I don’t care what happens to the rest of it. I’ll throw it away. I’ll feed it to the dog. It doesn’t matter to me anymore.
These are two very different definitions of the word "love."
It gets confusing when people start talking about love and especially about loving you. Which way do these people love you? Do they want what is best for you, or do they just want you around because it is good for them, and they don’t really care what happens to you?
This means that the opposite of pizza love is what might be called "Jesus love"—which is precisely the kind of love that St. Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians 13. Charlie Osburn has said that "Real love is not an emotion, it’s a decision." It’s a decision to sacrifice my own desires and to treat someone as God would have me treat them.
As we read the list of love’s characteristics in the second reading, we realize just how countercultural it is. Our society does not encourage us to be patient, or even kind.
In today’s Gospel people are envious and impatient with the teaching of Jesus Christ. Envy is an insidious vice. Many confuse it with jealousy or greed; but it is different from these two faults. Jealousy wants what the other person has and is not prepared to share. Greed simply wants as much and more than the other. Envy, however, simply does not want the other to have any advantage. It is totally destructive.
St James says in Chapter 3 verse 4 and 5 “See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.” You can close the mouth of thousands of Jars but it is difficult to close the mouth of a person. Today, we need to learn from the Gospel that one should never allow oneself to back away because of envious criticism. Looking at today's gospel incident, If Jesus had allowed himself to back away from his mission to make the good news known to all people because his friends and neighbors had given him the cold shoulder, then the world history would have been much different. It is worth asking - how often have we backed off, or have been tempted to quit, because of envious criticism? Our natural reaction is to say "To heck with it all!" My parents used to say to me when I complain only the barking Dog gets the stones.
You may know THE STORY OF THE CRAB and the BUCKET. One time a man was walking along the beach and saw another man fishing in the surf with a bait bucket beside him. As he drew closer, he saw that the bait bucket had no lid and had live crabs inside. He asked. “Why don't you cover your bait bucket so the crabs won't escape?” You don't understand.” the man replied, "If there is one crab in the bucket it would surely crawl out very quickly. However, when there are many crabs in the bucket, if one tries to crawl up the side, the others grab hold of it and pull it back down so that it will share the same fate as the rest of them."
So it is with people. If one tries to do something different, get better grades, improve herself or himself, escape her or his environment, or dream big dreams, other people will try to drag them back down to share their fate. Don’t be discouraged with the cold shoulders of others. Let me remind you the incident of St Paul at the shore of Malta in Acts Chapter 28 verses 1- 10. When Paul and the disciples were in a shipwreck and reached the island Malta first the islanders showed them unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed them. When a viper driven out by the heat fastened itself on Paul’s hand, then the idea changed .The islanders considered him as murderer and a curse expecting him to swell up and fall dead. But when they realized after a long time nothing happened to him, they changed their mind and said he is a God and treated him as God. This is our human psychology.
Yes my dear brothers and sisters this actually pictures our attitude, we like to swim with the tide, like to go with the flow.
Ignore the crabs. Charge ahead and do what is right for you. It may not be easy and you may not succeed as much as you like, but you will NEVER share the same fate as those never try.
WE do not want hear the truth. Centuries later in Italy it was commonly believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Everyone believed that the sun revolved around the earth and that the earth was the center of the solar system. A Polish scientist by the name of Copernicus had argued otherwise a century earlier, but nobody took him seriously. Then an Italian scientist by the name of Galileo came along and showed them through a telescope that they were all wrong. Italians, including distinguished Cardinals in Rome, were shocked and horrified. They had Galileo arrested and silenced because he upset their ways of seeing reality and their self-inflated attitudes about humans being the center of God's universe. Their minds were up and they didn't want to be confused by the facts, even facts that came to them through a telescope.
So how do we humans often react in the face of such confrontations, when we are challenged much like the hometown folks of Nazareth were challenged? We kill the messenger. "If you don't like the message, well, then, get rid of the messenger." If you are in a court trial, make the prosecuting attorneys and the police look like either bullies or fools. Destroy the witnesses by discrediting them or by ruining their reputations or transferring them from the job. If the message you are hearing upsets you, destroy either the content of the message or else destroy the messenger.
We like to pride ourselves in thinking that we want to hear the truth. We even tell our wives, our husbands and our children that we want to hear the truth from them. But if they present us with a truth that requires radical change, then watch out!
What happened to Jesus is personalized for us “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first….. Jesus said; “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” The good news is that we share in the mission of Jesus and he will be with us always. The challenging news is that following him would not be a “rose garden.” It is a way of the Cross. There is no rose ,if there is no thorn stems.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
If you know Mary Beth Bonacci’ book called Real Love, she addresses in the opening chapter what are some of the characteristics of [real] love? She says:-
"People use the word "love" a lot of different ways. We hear people saying that I love my mom and dad and also I love pizza.
What am I saying when I say I love my mom and dad? I’m saying that I care about them. I’m saying that if they needed me, I would do everything humanly possible to help them. I’m saying that I always want what is best for them.
But ,When I say I love pizza, I’m just saying that I enjoy eating pizza until I don’t want any more pizza. Once I’m tired of the pizza, I don’t care what happens to the rest of it. I’ll throw it away. I’ll feed it to the dog. It doesn’t matter to me anymore.
These are two very different definitions of the word "love."
It gets confusing when people start talking about love and especially about loving you. Which way do these people love you? Do they want what is best for you, or do they just want you around because it is good for them, and they don’t really care what happens to you?
This means that the opposite of pizza love is what might be called "Jesus love"—which is precisely the kind of love that St. Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians 13. Charlie Osburn has said that "Real love is not an emotion, it’s a decision." It’s a decision to sacrifice my own desires and to treat someone as God would have me treat them.
As we read the list of love’s characteristics in the second reading, we realize just how countercultural it is. Our society does not encourage us to be patient, or even kind.
In today’s Gospel people are envious and impatient with the teaching of Jesus Christ. Envy is an insidious vice. Many confuse it with jealousy or greed; but it is different from these two faults. Jealousy wants what the other person has and is not prepared to share. Greed simply wants as much and more than the other. Envy, however, simply does not want the other to have any advantage. It is totally destructive.
St James says in Chapter 3 verse 4 and 5 “See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.” You can close the mouth of thousands of Jars but it is difficult to close the mouth of a person. Today, we need to learn from the Gospel that one should never allow oneself to back away because of envious criticism. Looking at today's gospel incident, If Jesus had allowed himself to back away from his mission to make the good news known to all people because his friends and neighbors had given him the cold shoulder, then the world history would have been much different. It is worth asking - how often have we backed off, or have been tempted to quit, because of envious criticism? Our natural reaction is to say "To heck with it all!" My parents used to say to me when I complain only the barking Dog gets the stones.
You may know THE STORY OF THE CRAB and the BUCKET. One time a man was walking along the beach and saw another man fishing in the surf with a bait bucket beside him. As he drew closer, he saw that the bait bucket had no lid and had live crabs inside. He asked. “Why don't you cover your bait bucket so the crabs won't escape?” You don't understand.” the man replied, "If there is one crab in the bucket it would surely crawl out very quickly. However, when there are many crabs in the bucket, if one tries to crawl up the side, the others grab hold of it and pull it back down so that it will share the same fate as the rest of them."
So it is with people. If one tries to do something different, get better grades, improve herself or himself, escape her or his environment, or dream big dreams, other people will try to drag them back down to share their fate. Don’t be discouraged with the cold shoulders of others. Let me remind you the incident of St Paul at the shore of Malta in Acts Chapter 28 verses 1- 10. When Paul and the disciples were in a shipwreck and reached the island Malta first the islanders showed them unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed them. When a viper driven out by the heat fastened itself on Paul’s hand, then the idea changed .The islanders considered him as murderer and a curse expecting him to swell up and fall dead. But when they realized after a long time nothing happened to him, they changed their mind and said he is a God and treated him as God. This is our human psychology.
Yes my dear brothers and sisters this actually pictures our attitude, we like to swim with the tide, like to go with the flow.
Ignore the crabs. Charge ahead and do what is right for you. It may not be easy and you may not succeed as much as you like, but you will NEVER share the same fate as those never try.
WE do not want hear the truth. Centuries later in Italy it was commonly believed that the earth was the center of the universe. Everyone believed that the sun revolved around the earth and that the earth was the center of the solar system. A Polish scientist by the name of Copernicus had argued otherwise a century earlier, but nobody took him seriously. Then an Italian scientist by the name of Galileo came along and showed them through a telescope that they were all wrong. Italians, including distinguished Cardinals in Rome, were shocked and horrified. They had Galileo arrested and silenced because he upset their ways of seeing reality and their self-inflated attitudes about humans being the center of God's universe. Their minds were up and they didn't want to be confused by the facts, even facts that came to them through a telescope.
So how do we humans often react in the face of such confrontations, when we are challenged much like the hometown folks of Nazareth were challenged? We kill the messenger. "If you don't like the message, well, then, get rid of the messenger." If you are in a court trial, make the prosecuting attorneys and the police look like either bullies or fools. Destroy the witnesses by discrediting them or by ruining their reputations or transferring them from the job. If the message you are hearing upsets you, destroy either the content of the message or else destroy the messenger.
We like to pride ourselves in thinking that we want to hear the truth. We even tell our wives, our husbands and our children that we want to hear the truth from them. But if they present us with a truth that requires radical change, then watch out!
What happened to Jesus is personalized for us “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first….. Jesus said; “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” The good news is that we share in the mission of Jesus and he will be with us always. The challenging news is that following him would not be a “rose garden.” It is a way of the Cross. There is no rose ,if there is no thorn stems.
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