WHAT CAN YOU GIVE?
Yearning and
deprivation lead to glory; thirst leads to a banquet; sacrifice to renewal;
denial and the cross to kindness which "is a greater good than life."
I
want to start with a couple questions for us to ponder on: Do you think someone
is crazy for loving until death? The drama and passion of a life lived in
relationship with God includes "until death." Jesus Christ is able
and willing. Are you and I? Vincent Van Gogh wrote, "Being friends... love,
these open the prison by supreme power, by some magic force. Where sympathy is
renewed, life is restored."
I
want to share a short story I read from a commentary for this Sunday titled
"Holy Sacrifices." It is a "powerhouse" for us to reflect
upon!
Reconstructing
a school is a big job anywhere. It's especially difficult when that school is
located in war-torn Mozambique and needs just about everything: money, desks
and equipment, among other essentials. Running the school has its own problems:
electrical blackouts, insects, uncertainties, problems with students. But it is
a challenge Chris Sweeney, S.C. and four other Sacred Heart Brothers take up
every day. Brother Chris almost always begins the day with a tractor ride from
the residence area to the school's farm. He said, "No matter how I'm
feeling, often tired, sometimes frustrated, the smiles of the kids along this
road bring a smile to my face and heart. I have driven down this road now
hundreds of times, and each time the kids come running, sometimes dancing and
singing to see the tractor roll down the path. It's just an awesome
feeling."
Today
some 1,000 students take classes, and when the school day ends they learn pig
farming, corn cultivation and carpentry, gaining experience to help them find
work after graduation. The crosses the brothers, staff and students bear have
carried them through hardships to new life.
In
today's Responsorial Psalm we acclaim, "My soul is thirsting for You, O
Lord my God" (Ps 63:2b). Yearning and deprivation lead to glory; thirst
leads to a banquet; sacrifice to renewal; denial and the cross to kindness
which "is a greater good than life." What can one give in exchange
for his or her life?