Fr. Marsel Rante Taruk
Reflection: 4th Sunday Ordinary Time Year C.
The story has been told many times: a reporter watched Mother Teresa of Calcutta as she cleaned the maggot-infected wound of a beggar in the street. The reporter approached the nun and said, “I would not do what you are doing for a million dollars.” Mother Teresa looked at him with a bit of a wry smile and replied him right away , “I would not either.” We are probably used to read and chant the hymn of love found in 1 Corinthians, “Love is patient, kind, not envious or boastful, not rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not self-seeking or prone to anger. It does not brood over injuries. It rejoices with the truth. There is no limit to its forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure”.
Such love has inspired many saints, including Mother Teresa to perform miracles in their time. Such love has moved saints to do extra miles, beyond the price of millions of dollars. Loving is never just about opening our heart. It is about willing to have our heart become larger as we make room for people, stories and experiences we never imagined holding. It is about willing to have our heart become deeper as we move beyond the surface layers of our assumptions, prejudices and habits in order to truly see and receive what and who is before us. It is about willing to have our heart continually shattered and remade, as we take in not only the brokenness of the world but also the beauty of it. Familiarity breeds contempt. When Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth for his inaugural address, the sermon went well and all were amazed. After he announced and specified the good news to the poor, the captives, and the oppressed, his audience became angry. When the poor, the captives and the oppressed are those whom we don’t like or don’t trust at first sight or even fear, Jesus’ address becomes more difficult to hear. He was too ordinary and too close to give such prophetic utterance. It cannot be real. He cannot be real. Eventually they were filled with rage and wanted to cast him out. It takes love to take in the message of Jesus. It takes love to really be ready to take up Jesus’ message in our own life. The love that Jesus preached is not too lofty, so it includes the dirty poor and the stinking homeless. It does not brood over injuries, so it asks not how we can get even with this criminal, but how we can help restore this human being. The message of Jesus does not rejoice in what is wrong so it causes us to react strongly against all forms of injustice and oppression. For us, the deepest truth about our humanity, is revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. No human person can be anything, unless he is the image of his Creator. But God is a consuming fire of love. And so, without love no matter what kind of apparent greatness we may have, in reality we are nothing. We are only something if, like God, we are on fire with love. It takes only love to be walking with the prophet through the midst of the crowd. Are we ready to face this challenge? Let me end with another address from Pope John Paul II: “The missionary is a person of charity in order to proclaim to all his brothers and sisters that they are loved by God and are capable of loving, he must show love towards all, ready to give his life for his neighbour. The missionary is the universal brother, who bears in himself the Church’s spirit, her openness to and interest in all kinds of people and individuals, especially the least and the poorest of his brethren. As such, he overcomes barriers and divisions of race, cast or ideology. He is a sign of God’s love in the world- a love without exclusion or partially”. (Redemptoris Missio, 89)
by Fr. Marsel Rante Taruk
Reflection: 4th Sunday Ordinary Time Year C.
The story has been told many times: a reporter watched Mother Teresa of Calcutta as she cleaned the maggot-infected wound of a beggar in the street. The reporter approached the nun and said, “I would not do what you are doing for a million dollars.” Mother Teresa looked at him with a bit of a wry smile and replied him right away , “I would not either.” We are probably used to read and chant the hymn of love found in 1 Corinthians, “Love is patient, kind, not envious or boastful, not rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not self-seeking or prone to anger. It does not brood over injuries. It rejoices with the truth. There is no limit to its forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure”.
Such love has inspired many saints, including Mother Teresa to perform miracles in their time. Such love has moved saints to do extra miles, beyond the price of millions of dollars. Loving is never just about opening our heart. It is about willing to have our heart become larger as we make room for people, stories and experiences we never imagined holding. It is about willing to have our heart become deeper as we move beyond the surface layers of our assumptions, prejudices and habits in order to truly see and receive what and who is before us. It is about willing to have our heart continually shattered and remade, as we take in not only the brokenness of the world but also the beauty of it. Familiarity breeds contempt. When Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth for his inaugural address, the sermon went well and all were amazed. After he announced and specified the good news to the poor, the captives, and the oppressed, his audience became angry. When the poor, the captives and the oppressed are those whom we don’t like or don’t trust at first sight or even fear, Jesus’ address becomes more difficult to hear. He was too ordinary and too close to give such prophetic utterance. It cannot be real. He cannot be real. Eventually they were filled with rage and wanted to cast him out. It takes love to take in the message of Jesus. It takes love to really be ready to take up Jesus’ message in our own life. The love that Jesus preached is not too lofty, so it includes the dirty poor and the stinking homeless. It does not brood over injuries, so it asks not how we can get even with this criminal, but how we can help restore this human being. The message of Jesus does not rejoice in what is wrong so it causes us to react strongly against all forms of injustice and oppression. For us, the deepest truth about our humanity, is revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. No human person can be anything, unless he is the image of his Creator. But God is a consuming fire of love. And so, without love no matter what kind of apparent greatness we may have, in reality we are nothing. We are only something if, like God, we are on fire with love. It takes only love to be walking with the prophet through the midst of the crowd. Are we ready to face this challenge? Let me end with another address from Pope John Paul II: “The missionary is a person of charity in order to proclaim to all his brothers and sisters that they are loved by God and are capable of loving, he must show love towards all, ready to give his life for his neighbour. The missionary is the universal brother, who bears in himself the Church’s spirit, her openness to and interest in all kinds of people and individuals, especially the least and the poorest of his brethren. As such, he overcomes barriers and divisions of race, cast or ideology. He is a sign of God’s love in the world- a love without exclusion or partially”. (Redemptoris Missio, 89)
by Fr. Marsel Rante Taruk