2015 IHS Reflections

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

May 2
John 14: 7-14 If you know me, then you will also know my Father.* From now on you do
know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Master, show us the Father,* and that will be
enough for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not
know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the
Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I
speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe
me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works
themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and
will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my
name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my
name, I will do it.
Reflection:
The phrase Like father, like son has been around going back to at least the 18th century,
according to research. It says that as the children grow up guided by their parents through the
years, children eventually come to reflect the personality and qualities of his or her parents.
However, this is not always true in the world today. There are so many conflicting influences
now especially from media and the relativism in the world that water down the many good
examples and influences that many parents impart to their children. Many parents worry about
how their children will turn out, what values they will espouse.
However, this reading tells us that Like father, like son has a deeper meaning in the
relationship between Jesus the son and God the Father that we can learn from. Jesus said If
you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen
him The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. This tells us no outside influence can
change the relationship between Father and Son. The work of the Father in His son is never
diluted. What good news that is for us in the midst of the troubles in the world today.
Jesus tells us that whoever believes in Him will do the works that he does. The more we know
Him, the closer we are to Him, the more we study his Words and His life, the more we marvel at
the work that he is doing in our lives, the stronger will be our connection to him just like His
connection to the Father. This is our security and shield against the worldly values, immorality,
materialism, selfishness and greed that abounds in the world today.

Guide Question
Do people see and feel Christ in me? What will I do to ensure that am a witness to my family
especially my children?

Nov 3

SORRY, BUT I AM BUSY

Luke 14: 15- 24 One of his fellow guests on hearing this said to him, Blessed is the one who
will dine in the kingdom of God. He replied to him, A man gave a great dinner to which he
invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those
invited, Come, everything is now ready. But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves.
The first said to him, I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me
excused. And another said, I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate
them; I ask you, consider me excused. And another said, I have just married a woman, and
therefore I cannot come. The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of
the house in a rage commanded his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the
town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame. The servant reported,
Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room. The master then ordered the
servant, Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be
filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.
REFLECTION
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, is what 24/7 stands for. Around the globe, there is a person who
is awake and working regardless of the day and time. Anywhere in the world who is connected
by cable or internet can watch news, call someone across timezones, or fly across continents any
time of the day.
With this frenzy of activities and our plates full of choices of activities to do, we are not very far
from the guests invited to the banquet in the reading, too busy to say yes to the biggest most
important life giving banquet of all, the banquet of the Lord in the Holy Mass.
I feel like the servant in the story. Just one among the many who have answered the call of the
Lord first to be a guest in His banquet and then to serve Him to be an instrument to invite more
people to experience and delight in the banquet with the best food of all to nourish us, His Word
and the Eucharist.
When the master ordered the servant, Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people
come in that my home may be filled, I felt that the Lord was urging us servants of today to Go!
The highways and the hedgerows is anywhere and everywhere where there are people who are in
darkness, who do not know Christ, and who long to hear the good news of salvation and to be
brought to the banquet of the Eucharist.

Let us pray for those who continue to shy away from his invitation on Sundays, when malling,
movies, games, parties, and other activities become a priority. We are also called to encourage
them back to the Church. The call to new evangelization is a call that beckons us to Go and
witness, be bold and be ready, and be able to say no to the lures of the world and say Sorry, but
I am busy doing the work of the Lord.
Guide Question
Do I proclaim Christ in my work place, to my family and my neighbors? Am I willing to
volunteer in Church activities in my parish or in my faith community?