Zech 12:10-11; Gal 3:26-29; Luke 9:18-24
Oscar Wilde’s “The Happy Prince” is a beautiful
story.
In Autumn Swallows migrate to the warm
climate of Egypt. On the way a Swallow took asylum at the foot of a golden
statue, ‘The Happy Prince’. As he was preparing to sleep, a drop of water fell
on him. He looked up but there was no sign of rain. Again came a drop of water.
The Swallow looked up, and he was shocked to see ‘The Happy Prince’ shedding
tears. The Prince had precious stones for his eyes, a ruby on his sword hilt,
and his body was made of gold. Yet, the Prince was not happy. The Swallow flew
up to his shoulder and asked, “Dear Prince
what makes you cry? He said to the swallow, “There is a mother who is not able to get medicine for her sick child. Please take the ruby from my sword hilt and give it to her.” The swallow did so, and it felt warm. The Prince said, “You feel warm because you have done a good deed.” The next day The Happy Prince requested the swallow to pull out one of his sapphire eyes and give to a little match- girl, whose matches fell in gutter. Unwillingly the swallow did it. The following day again The Happy Prince requested the swallow to pluck out his other sapphire eye and give to a writer who was not able to complete his book because of his poverty.
what makes you cry? He said to the swallow, “There is a mother who is not able to get medicine for her sick child. Please take the ruby from my sword hilt and give it to her.” The swallow did so, and it felt warm. The Prince said, “You feel warm because you have done a good deed.” The next day The Happy Prince requested the swallow to pull out one of his sapphire eyes and give to a little match- girl, whose matches fell in gutter. Unwillingly the swallow did it. The following day again The Happy Prince requested the swallow to pluck out his other sapphire eye and give to a writer who was not able to complete his book because of his poverty.
Now, the Prince had lost his vision. Taking
pity on him the swallow decided to abandon his plan of going to Egypt. He sat on the shoulder of the Happy Prince
and narrated whatever he saw to the Prince.
The sufferings of the poor people who could not afford to eat and live
made the Prince sad. The Prince requested the Swallow to take all the gold from
his body to help the suffering poor people. Having lost all his gold and
precious stones, he became an ugly statue. Being unable to bear the chill, the
swallow died and fell at the foot of the ugly statue.
The councillors noted the condition of The
Happy Prince. He looked shabby. They decided to replace the Happy Prince with
their own statue. So the statue was brought down and melted. But they threw
away the leaden heart and the dead swallow.
“Bring me two most precious things in the
city,” said God to one of His Angels; and the Angel brought Him the lead heart
and the dead bird.
“You have rightly chosen,” said God, “for
in my garden of Paradise this little bird shall sing for ever, and in my city
of gold the Happy Prince shall praise me.”
This
is the message of today’s Gospel. Jesus
said to his listeners, “Any one who wants to save his life will lose it; but
anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it.”
Here Jesus lays down the conditions of
service for those who would follow Him.
The first condition is that a man must deny
himself. As Henry Ward says, “It is not what we take up, but what we give up
that makes us rich.” Moses was living in the comforts of the palace of the
Pharaohs. When he saw the injustice meted out to his own brethren he reacted
against it. He knew that he had to give up his luxury, he knew that he had to
give up his power, he knew that he had to give up his positions, he knew that
he had to give up everything he enjoyed. Moses did it without regret. The
Apostles accepted the invitation of Jesus to follow Him. So they had to give up
their profession, their interests and their dreams. They did it willingly. St
Francis of Assisi set out for Crusade, then he heard the call. He had to give up
his ambition to accept the plan of God for him.
Jesus justifies his demand on his disciples by his own life. His denial
of himself was unparalleled. He prayed, “Father, Let Thy will be done.”
Secondly, a man must take up his cross.
Jesus’ listeners knew very well the horrors of crucifixion. The very thought of
it made them shudder. They had seen people with a pole fixed across their
shoulders being led by the Roman soldiers to be crucified. They had seen people
hanging on the cross and longing for death in great agony. In 6 AD, after the
rebellion of Judas the Galilean, two thousand Jews were crucified on crosses
which were set in lines along the roadside as a dreadful warning for
others. All these events were fresh in
their minds. So, His message was direct and plain. Whoever wished to follow Him
should be ready to endure the worst.
Thirdly, a man must spend his life, not
hoard it. Listen to the words of Albert Einstein, “Only a life lived for others
is worth living.” So, our motive must be, not “How much I can get.” but, “How much I can give” Not “What is the safe thing to do?”
but, “What is the right thing to do?”
When a candle is lit, it spreads light
around it at the cost of itself. If it is kept in the locker it will remain
there and becomes a burden. “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do
for others and the world remains and is immortal." Says Albert Pine.
Finally, Loyalty will have its reward. As
Oscar Wilde says, “In my garden of Paradise this little bird shall sing for
ever, and in my city of gold the Happy Prince shall praise me.” When the Angel
of the Lord came down looking for beautiful things it found a Mahatma Gandhi,
an Abraham Lincoln, a Martin Luther King, a Maximillan Kolbe and a lot like
them. When we do a little sacrifice in our life for others, our actions too
will become beautiful before God.
Satish