Art/ Heritage

 ‘Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. ’

For centuries, Catholics all over the world have clung on to the Blessed Mother through word and song, imploring her protection and desiring to be covered by her precious mantle of love and mercy. In the quattrocento, this tender expression of faith was charged by the colors of art and the conviction of the artists.

One such famous masterpiece is the ‘Polyptych of the Misericordia’ by Piero Della Francesca. He painted it for his hometown of Sansepolcro, a region of Tuscany, Italy. Commissioned in 1445 by the Compagnia Della Misericordia, today the painting is conserved in the Museo Civico di Sansepolcro. The gigantic size of the canvas indicates that the Polyptych was intended to be used as an altarpiece.

Piero was born in c 1415 to Benedetto de’ Franceschi, a tradesman. His father died before his birth and hence Piero was called ‘Della Francesca’ after his mother. Although a painter of the Early Renaissance, Piero was contemporarily known as a mathematician and geometer. Nevertheless, today Piero is primarily appreciated for his art characterized by monumentality, mathematical rigor, and naturalism.

As the name suggests, the Polyptych of the Misericordia is executed on multiple panels merged on hinging folds. The ‘Madonna Della Misericordia’ or the ‘Madonna of Mercy’ occupies the central part of the Polyptych and was the last image to be painted. The iconography of the Blessed Virgin sheltering the faithful under her mantle was extremely popular in medieval Italy. Its origins can be traced to the Byzantine tradition.

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Faith

Embracing Suffering – Luke 9: 43-45 – Saturday, 25th week in ordinary time

It’s tough to keep your cool when you have to get you message across twice. Today’s passage has Jesus communicating the truth of his passion and death to his disciples who seem to find this hard to swallow. Jesus has already predicted his passion in Luke 9:21 -22 and that itself came as a shock to the twelve. It seemed like this message needed to sink in before Jesus leaves Galilee and makes his way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51)

Jesus has just descended from the mount of Transfiguration only to drive out a demon from a young boy. The opening lines of our Gospel text tells us that “all were amazed at all he was doing.” Perhaps it is this constant ‘high’ that keeps the apostles from accepting the ultimate reality; Jesus came to die for all.

Some scholars exonerate the disciple’s inability to understand and accept such suffering. They call this text of Luke the “suffering secret”. In the Gospel of Luke, it is only after the resurrection and the gift of insight that Jesus gives them (24:13-35 – road to Emmaus) that the disciples truly understand the meaning of the cross. It is the two men in white who remind the women at the tomb 24:5 of the words of Jesus; “ Remember how he told you, while still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners  and be crucified and on the third day rise again.”

The inability of the disciples to accept the hard truth is a reflection of who we are too. The prosperity Gospel is appealing, not so the suffering of Christ on the cross. Yet looking at the signs of the time the cross beckons us to get out of our comfort zone and open our eyes to the reality of suffering.  It is for this reason that a Church must have the crucifix displayed prominently and not the resurrected Christ as some opt to.

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Faith

enTRUSTed  – Luke 9:1-6 – Wednesday 25th week in ordinary time.

This text based on the Gospel of Mark 6:7-31 must be read in conjunction with the entire section of Luke Chapter 7:1- 8:56 of which this text is the culmination. In chapter 7 and 8 Jesus shared the nature of the kingdom mission with the disciples; now he hands on the mandate to execute that mission to the twelve. However, Jesus wed great ‘power and authority’ to compassionate love and service.

There is an unwritten ‘promotion’ in these six verses. The disciples have moved from being faithful followers to entrusted collaborators. At the ascension, Jesus will once again reiterate this mandate; “as the father has sent me so I am sending you.” Jesus has entrusted his disciples to carry on the very task that he set out to do. This collaborative ministry should not be lost on us for the entrusting of mission is a handover of divine trust. Jesus places his trust in us to do what he began. Ministry is thus a privilege and not a duty in the Church.

But this mandate came with riders; they had to travel light and travel fast for they had to go ‘everywhere’ (verse 6). Ministry can’t be shackled with niggling concerns or material attachments. This was one journey which demanded zero baggage allowance. Baggage, physical and emotional can slow you down and simply complicates life; the collaborator had to be unencumbered by baggage.

Perhaps the words of Jesus leave the Church red faced today. These are hard words and the verse seem less embarrassing when glossed over for over the centuries we have become a church with much wealth. Living in total providence seems easier to preach when the reserves in one’s bank are full. Yet when resources are scarce, creativity abounds and that brings spontaneity to ministry. Perhaps we as an institutional Church need to take a hard look at what we have become. The death of spontaneity and creativity could be an indicator of a Church that has found comfort in its structures and financial resources. Pope Francis has often pleaded for a poor Church for the poor.

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Food

Ingredients

Mutton 1 kg
Onion paste 2 cups
Tomato puree 1 cup (just add 2-3 tomatoes in a blender and make a puree)
Ginger garlic paste 3 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Black pepper corns 1 tsp
Black Cardamom 3-4
Cloves 3-4
Cinnamon sticks 2-3
Bay leaves 2-3
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder 1 tbsp
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Garam masala powder 1 tsp
Mace/Javithri powder 1/2 tsp
Fresh Cream 1 cup
Green Capsicum 5-6 cubes
Oil
Salt
Coriander leaves
Fresh Cream 1 cup

Method
1. Clean and wash the mutton and keep aside.Take a Kadai and add some oil, add cumin seeds and all the whole garam masala’s as mentioned above. Add the onion paste and saute for 5 minutes. Add the green chillies and ginger garlic paste and sauté Keep covered for sometime. Now add all the spice powders as mentioned and sauté. Then add the tomato puree. Again keep covered for 5 minutes. Add salt. Add the washed mutton and sauté for 5 minutes. Then add boiling water 3-4 cups.  Keep covered for 45 minutes until the mutton is well cooked. Alternatively transfer to a pressure cooker and cook for 5-6 whistles. Once mutton is cooked add the fresh cream and simmer for 10 minutes. Keep covered.  The curry will thicken by this time. Adjust the consistency of the gravy as per requirement. Add capsicum cubes and finally garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
 

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Art/ Heritage

In 1940, hardly four years after the inauguration of the Parel Seminary, a new vision for a grand seminary building set-up was proposed on paper. A site hunt was undertaken and the one at Kol Dongri, Andheri was approved. However, not a sod of earth was turned in on the new-land. Was it unpromising? Read on to discover the fateful events of the 1940s.

1940 – 41 – The Andheri plot in question was close to the Railway Station to the east and belonged to the Mangalorean Garden Homes Society.

July 1943 – The Diocesan Council announced that an agreement had been signed to buy the plot at Andheri where the whole Seminary could be comfortably located.

August 1945 – Archbishop Roberts, before his departure to Europe, appointed a Seminary Building Committee. The Committee comprised of both Diocesan and Seminary representatives. Their primary task was to study the architectural plans submitted for approval.

August 1946 – The Committee’s discussions prolonged and their opinions differed not only in terms of layout but more importantly in the vision of the future seminary. There was a tussle between the ‘Block System’ (University City) and the ‘House or Home System’.

February 1947 – With some modifications the ‘Block System’ prevailed and Auxiliary Bishop Gracias sanctioned the building plans. Further Bishop Gracias wrote in his first Lenten Pastoral letter dated February 14, 1947: ‘A visit to the Institution (the Seminary)… would reveal the trying conditions faced by the Staff and students…Plans to transfer the Seminary to the new site at Andheri are well underway…The path may be rugged, the journey calling for much patience…’ (The Examiner 1947)

March 1948 – All permissions needed for construction were taken. Andheri seemed to be the Promised Land for the Bombay Seminary.

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