If Wishes Were Horses

"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."   That’s one of my favorite expressions I use more than I should.   Perhaps I should switch to: “If wishes were fishes, we’d all cast nets.”

“If wishes were horses” actually comes from an original nursery rhyme from Scotland: "If wishes were horses then beggars would ride. If turnips were swords I’d have one by my side. If ‘ifs’ and ‘ands’ were pots and pans, there would be no need for tinker’s hands!"

We all wish for many things: good health, well-paying jobs, better weather, and, of course someone to love.   For those of us who have lost the ones we love, we wish they were still alive and with us.  

We all wish we knew about the many other things that Jesus did.  According to the Gospel of John (21:20-25): “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.”  Now that’s impressive!

In today’s world of high technology we can assume those many things could be put on a computer hard-drive.  Or we could simply Google “What did Jesus do?”  Times today are so very different from when Jesus walked this earth about 2,000 years ago.  We thank God for that.

We already know Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment: love one another.  As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” We know he fed the hungry, visited the sick, and he wants us to do the same.

He told us to turn and become like children so we can enter the kingdom of heaven.  To be like children we must be more trusting, more forgiving, more humble, and more loving – some of the wonderful traits of little children we adults lack.  Heaven on earth exists for those of us who forgive, trust, love, and are not prideful.  Jesus told us this through the Lord’s Prayer.

What don’t we know about Jesus?  It really doesn’t matter. We’re already staggered by what he said and did.   All we need are four books: Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John.  We need no more than that except a better understanding of what was written in those texts that’s relevant to our times and our lives.

We wish Jesus was still alive and with us.  Wouldn’t that be phenomenal!   We’d finally see how he really looked and hear the sound of his voice. We would listen to his sermons on South Cape or Popponesset Beach.   Oh, if wishes would only come true.

Then again, in a spiritual and mystical way, Jesus is with us, today and every day.  Our wish has come true.  The evidence is before us in the many consecrated hosts we consume during Mass.

The challenge will be for us to make Jesus truly come alive by what we say and by what we do outside of our Christ the King.  Our lives and our behavior must be the best evidence for him being alive and with us.

Let’s provide some of that evidence by loving one another.  As he loves us, so we also should love one another.

Deacon David Pierce