by Vincent | Feb 16, 2017 | Reflections, Religion
Yesterday I posted a YouTube video as a reflection. It’s not something I’ve done very often or plan on doing that often but just wondered how it would go. Within an hour I met a lady in a local supermarket and she said “I was just listening to you” – then she said “watching”. She told me she had seen the clip and I thought maybe there’s something in this. So giving it another go today. Basing the clip again on today’s Gospel passage at Mass.
THE GOSPEL
Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John the Baptist,’ they said ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he asked ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But, turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
by Vincent | Jan 22, 2017 | General Interest, Reflections, Photography
Looking through Twitter yesterday I noticed this photo and it caught my eye. An image captured from one of the many marches around the world that sought to express something less than pleasure at the election of the Donald Trump as President of the United States, the slogan was a play on his election slogan: “Make America Great Again”. I liked the call to kindness. Of course the banner was given to the child and was not of her making but she presents the message and there’s something believable in a child calling us to kindness.
I was struck by the difference one word can make. There’s nothing wrong with greatness and to be told you’re “great” is as welcoming as its flattering but there’s something very special about kindness. I think, at day’s end, we’d prefer to be remembered for kindness rather than greatness.
The slogan then goes beyond America to a more immediate “homeland” – the homeland that is “me”. Maybe we need to hear that slogan applied to ourselves and, if there’s been any slippage, to let the message sink in “Make ME kind again”.
by Vincent | Jun 27, 2015 | Reflections, Religion
Tonight we think of the woman healed in the crowd. I’ve often thought that a tour guide in the Holy Land could point out the field where that happened but only the woman herself could take you to the exact spot in the field! Finding Jesus, becoming aware of healing is precious and the point of contact remains just that, a point of contact. The following story (author unknown) makes the point well.
Here is a beautiful old story about Zacchaeus, the tax collector. It tells how in later years, he rose early every morning and left his house. His wife, curious, followed him one morning. At the town well he filled a bucket… And he walked until he came to a sycamore tree. There, setting down the bucket, he began to clean away the stones, the branches, and the rubbish from around the base of the tree. Having done that, he poured water on the roots and stood there in silence, gently caressing the trunk with both of his hands. When his amazed wife came out of hiding and asked what he was doing, Zacchaeus replied simply, “This is where I found Christ.” I can just imagine that for the rest of their lives, that woman who touched the tassel of Jesus’ robe that day on the street… and the daughter of Jairus who was raised up in that room in her home, continually brought people back to those sacred spots and said, “This is where I found Christ! This is where Christ loved me into life!”
Do you have a sacred spot like that? This is the Good News of our Christian faith, isn’t it? Love has the power to heal, to reconcile, and to redeem.
