Fr. Sunny John O.Carm.: 2012

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Two mothers

Two Mothers

Long time ago, so I have been told,
Two angels once met on streets paved with gold.
“By the stars in your crown,” said the one to the other
“I see that on earth, you too, were a mother.

And by, the blue-tinted halo you wear
“You, too, have known sorrow and deepest despair…”
“Ah yes,” she replied, “I once had a son,
A sweet little lad, full of laughter and fun.”

“But tell of your child.” “Oh, I knew I was blessed
From the moment I first held him close to my breast,
And my heart almost burst with the joy of that day.”
“Ah, yes,” said the other, “I felt the same way.”

The former continued: “The first steps he took-
So eager and breathless; the sweet startled look
Which came over his face – he trusted me so.”
“Ah, yes,” said the other, “How well do I know”

“But soon he had grown to a tall handsome boy,
So stalwart and kind – and it gave me so much joy
To have him just walk down the street by my side”
“Ah yes, “said the other mother,
“I felt the same pride.”

“How often I shielded and spared him from pain
And when he for others was so cruelly slain.
When they crucified him – and they spat in his face
How gladly would I have hung there in his place!”

A moment of silence – “Oh then you are she -
The mother of Christ”; and she fell on one knee.
But the Blessed one raised her up, drawing her near,
And kissed from the cheek of the woman, a tear.

“Tell me the name of the son you love so,
That I may share with your grief and your woe.”
She lifted her eyes, looking straight at the other,
“He was Judas Iscariot: I am his mother.”
Author Unknown

Friday, April 06, 2012

Last words of Jesus_3

THE THIRD WORD

"Jesus said to his mother: "Woman, this is your son".
Then he said to the disciple "This is your mother."

Gospel of John 19:26-27

The last words that a man or woman pronounces before dying come directly from the heart.

As Jesus sees his weeping mother at the foot of the cross, his heart was breaking at the anguish this caused her. Her anguish does not come from embarrassment or humiliation at being the mother of a condemned criminal. Mary suffers terribly in her heart because she knows him better and loves him more deeply than any person on earth. She gave him flesh and blood. She nursed him, protected him, comforted his every sorrow and even taught him how to pray. Now she stands there powerless, unable to help him. All she can do is stand beside the cross. Mary is with her Son to the bitter end. Mary suffered in her soul what Jesus suffered in his body.

Only those who have watched a loved one die could even begin to understand what it means for Mary to be at the cross that day. As the hours pass and the agony increases she looks at her son, just a shell of the man he used to be, beaten almost beyond recognition, writhing in pain. And the crowd loving it. And in those hours suddenly the cry comes from the cross, Jesus looking down sees his mother Mary and sees John standing next to her and cries out from the cross, “Woman, Dear Woman, Mother, behold your son.” (speaking of John) and to John, “Behold your mother.” The Bible says that when Jesus said those words from the cross, immediately, from that very hour, John took Mary, the mother of Jesus into his own home. This is the last gift of Jesus before the death. Take it as priceless precious gift to your heart. Take Mary with you, you will never regret.

Blessed Mother Teresa once said that love begins at home. This is the place where the Mother teaches her son about the Cross. It's where she teaches obedience. The Mother's role is to bring love to the home so that we can learn how to love God all the way to Calvary. So on dark nights, Our Blessed Lord gives us His mother as the moon so that we will always remember that like Good Friday, we can look at the moon to know that there is an Easter Sunday.

We wouldn’t understand at first reading the significance of those words. But in Jewish thought the instructions of a dying man were of the same sort as if they were written on a piece of paper. So when Jesus cried out, “Woman, behold your son” and “Son, behold your mother", it is as if Jesus were writing his own last will and testament and executing it right there. Jesus was saying to his mother, “Mom, I’m leaving you now and I’m not going to be able to take care of you after I’m gone. Mom, there’s nothing else I can do for you. You see John. John will be to you as I was to you. He will be the son you need.” “John, do you see my mother? Take care of her after I’m gone. Do for her what I would do if I were still alive.”

You ask, why in the midst of all his agony would Jesus even say something like this? It is because even though he is dying in terrible, agonizing torture upon the cross, he is fulfilling the most basic responsibility and the most sacred obligation that any son ever had. He is making sure that his mother is cared for.

What does the Bible say? He was a Jew. He was raised under the Law. He knew the fifth commandment, “Honor your father and mother.”

Three applications from this simple story.

1. No one is ever discharged from that sacred obligation.

Our Lord has left the pattern for us to see. Though you be about the business of saving the world, though you be a Christian committed to spreading the gospel to the ends of this earth, you are not now, nor will you ever be, discharged from the sacred obligation to care for your parents. If our Lord Jesus, hanging in agony, remembered his mother at the very end of his life, then so should we.

2. When you can’t do anything else for the people you love, you can at least tell them, “I love you.”

3. No matter what you do in this life, you can hardly be considered a success if in your rapid climb to the top you neglect to care for your parents.

As we know, children do not like to share their mothers with anyone. Next to the love of a spouse, this relationship is the most personal. Yet Jesus not only generously shares her with us, he gives her to us. He says to John, behold, your mother. I entrust you with the most important person in the world to me. Protect her. Cherish her. Learn from her. Love her as your own mother.

When John was asked to take Mary into his care on that Good Friday, he represented every believer who has given themselves over to the love of Jesus Christ.

"Archbishop Helder Camara of Recife in Brazil, had a deep sense that the very poorest people were his family. If he heard that one had been unjustly arrested, then he would telephone the police and say, ‘I hear that you have arrested my brother.’ And the police would become very apologetic. ‘Your excellency, we are so sorry. We did not know he was your brother. Please come and collect him.’ And when the Archbishop would go to the police station to collect the man, the police might say, ‘But your Excellency, he does not have the same family name as you.’ And Camara would reply that every poor person was his brother and sister."

This, I think, is truly what Jesus is calling us to at the foot of the cross. Not to be hung up on our family names, on our shared national interests, on our need to protect “our own.” But rather, to embrace the gift of solidarity. To recognize the divine presence in our neighbor, near or far, and reflect that back to them. Especially in times of sorrow, sadness, crisis, and pain. Jesus is talking about more than looking out for two people he really cares about. He's talking about all of us caring for each other.

Jesus is doing more than creating a new family for his mother and his close friend. He is creating a new family for all of us. He is pointing in this action to the fact that all of us who follow him are to be family to each other.

Jesus speaks these words to every one of us, "Behold your mother, behold your son, behold your daughter, behold your sister, behold your brother, behold your father."

In Christ's death and resurrection, he created for us a new family, and that family is gathered here today.

Christ gave us each other as a gift. And it doesn't matter if we are Roman Catholic or Presbyterian or Methodist or Lutheran or Episcopal or Congregational or Baptists, we are all family and we are to serve each other - care for each other - treat each other as loving sisters and brothers.

Take a look around you. Behold your mother, your son, your sister, your brother.

Amen.