(bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)
The light turns green, but the man doesn’t notice that the light has changed. The woman behind him begins pounding on her steering wheel and yelling at the man to move! The man doesn’t move! The woman is going ballistic, ranting and raving at the man, pounding on her steering wheel. When the light turns yellow, the woman begins blowing her car’s horn and screaming curses at the man. Finally, the man looks up, sees the yellow light, and accelerates through the intersection just as the light turns red. While she is still ranting, she hears a tap on her window and looks up into the barrel of a gun held by a very serious policeman.
The policeman tells her to pull her car to the side, shut off the engine, come out and stand facing the car, while keeping both hands on the car roof. She is quickly cuffed, and hustled into the patrol car. The woman was too bewildered to ask any questions, and she is driven to the police station, where she is fingerprinted, photographed, searched, booked, and locked up in a cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approaches the cell, and opens the door.
The policeman hands her the bag containing her things, and says: «I’m sorry for this mistake, but you see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, and cursing at the car in front of you. I noticed the «Choose Christ» license plate holder, and «Follow me to Sunday school», bumper sticker, and Palm Sunday palm leaves inside the back windshield. So naturally I assumed you had stolen the car because such a nice Christian, who courageously displays Christian symbols in her car, would never act as you did».
(Father Tony Kadavil)
2.
The Bible is a parable of our lives. When we read the Bible and if we don’t see ourselves in it, we are missing a lot. It is another book or a library of 73 books. When we read the Bible we need to see ourselves in that Book. During the readings of our Sunday Mass we need to see ourselves in those readings. It is a love story between God and us. The readings during Mass are a mirror where we must see ourselves and confront our lives.
During the reading of the Passion I am going to try to see me with a different name, but it is me:
1) I am PETER who denied Jesus
2) I am JUDAS who betrayed Jesus
3) I am HEROD who ridiculed Jesus
4) I am PILATE who acted against my conscience as I condemned Jesus to death on the cross.
5) I am a member of the LEADERS of the people who preserved my position by getting rid of Jesus.
6) I am JESUS who is faithful to His project of showing to the world how good, merciful and forgiving the Father is, who always has a lap for each one of His children. I am Jesus who breaks the law to touch the untouchable, to love the unlovable and to be a «feet washer». But… am I?
Love & Peace
Fr. Bernardino Andrade