Paul's Reflections 6th Sunday of Year - C. 14th February, 2010

14th February, 2010      6th Sunday of Year - C

 

P Save a tree. Don't print this e-mail unless it's really necessary

 

There is a recurring line in the readings for this weekend….   “like a tree planted near flowing waters…..”   “that thrusts its roots into the stream”….//…  ‘when the heat comes.. it feels no alarm…  its foliage stays green.’ 

 

It’s a beautiful and restful image….

 

It is what we all are called to become..  centred on God…  drawing our life and meaning from God’s eternal stream…  and staying focused…   knowing what is lifegiving and what is a dead end!!!  And living in that knowledge…

 

The source of all life, all meaning and all lasting value…  is God’s life……   .., //.  all that is lasting…:   love, compassion and connection with God and one another… ; these things are entering into the life-giving stream that sustains us in good times and in bad…..

 

I was reading a quote from a person who wrote down thoughts about their life.. as they faced their final illness..  this writer, and American campaigner by the name of Lee Atwater..  died at a very early age from a brain tumour,,   he was a man who had amassed enormous wealth and power and prestige in his short life..  but admitted himself that he felt a deep inner restlessness..  and poverty of spirit…   ‘ he writes…” in my illness I discovered an insight into what was missing in society… and it was indeed missing in me too….  A little heart…. A lot of brotherhood……  we must speak to this ‘spiritual vacuum’ that lies at the heart of our society.”  …. 

 

It recalls another beautiful quote…  “The one who loses wealth, loses much….   But the one who loses the spirit, loses everything….”   We have to set our priorities and keep close to the source of lasting meaning…  God…. And God’s offer of eternal life and relationship… 

 

 

That beautiful second reading by St Paul..  again goes right to the heart of our faith….   We believe that Jesus is risen.. and because he is risen..  our hope of resurrection has dawned…  we believe that we have an eternal life with God….   A relationship that cannot be broken.. even by death…    recently someone gave me some old prayer books from their great-great grandmother.. and I put them with a lot of other beautiful things into our wonderful heritage room..  in the room behind the sanctuary here….  But some prayer cards for deceased friends and relatives fell out… I kept some of them and they are in my prayer books…   they look as brand new as a memorial prayer card printed yesterday…  but on the back.. names of people I don’t personally know.. but it says..  names such as George P Jordan, died 20^th May, 1963…aged 66  years…  in Dunfermline, Ireland….  Rest in Peace… //  that’s forty seven years ago…   /the mind boggles as I looked at names and dates and places  on countless paryer cards..   cards still worth looking at and praying over today.. as many do with their own families and friends prayer cards……   I wasn’t even born yet when these people passed into eternal life…  but.. their memory is as fresh in the mind of God.. and any surviving loved ones or friends….as today is….   We live on…   our hope and our faith continues in God… the source of our life…  it’s a beautiful thought…

 

The Gospel today saying ‘happy are those who are spiritual poor.. and oppressed’ and woe to those who are comfy and cosy…  this version of the gospel spells out that God means to turn standards and arrangements on their head…   the poor, the oppressed, the needy.. these are those who will come first in God’s values and God’s Kingdom…  so he is preparing us for a different way of thinking .. so we will engage in a different way of acting and living… 

 

What are some of the dead end roads we are tempted to drive down in our lives…..   what ‘things’do we put our energy and time into that are not life-giving and lasting like the waters of eternal life offered by Jesus and his values…

 

Let us be aware and prayerful about the things that give us lasting life and satisfaction.. and the things that sap our energy and leave us empty…

 

Jesus can show us how to put ourselves near the flowing waters… the renew and reconnect us to the true source of life…

 

 

 

 

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

REFERENCES:

 

·          FR. PAUL W. KELLY

·          Vision  – PRAYING SCRIPTURE IN A CONTEMPORARY WAY. YEAR Bc. BY MARK LINK S.J.

·          2010 – A BOOK OF GRACE-FILLED DAYS. BY ALICE CAMILLE.

·          THE DAILY STUDY BIBLE. GOSPEL OF LUKE. (REVISED EDITION). BY WILLIAM BARCLAY.