Faith

God first-Thursday, 2nd Week in the Easter Season – Acts 5:27-33

Stubborn as a mule, that’s how the apostles could best be described. They had decided that they were not going into the night without a fight and no intimidation from any source; even as high as the highest Jewish religious body was going to shut them down. A good man’s name had been tarnished, he had falsely been executed for being a “leader and saviour” and now voices must be raised to bear witness to the truth.

All that I have just written sounds like a present day confrontation between justice seekers and corrupt institutions on the other hand. But that is what it was 2000 years ago in the Easter season. An attempt was being made to suppress the truth by no less that religious authority. Peter and the apostles were warned with dire consequences to “to not teach in this name” (Jesus’)

What threatened the Jewish authorities so much?  One can attribute a number of reasons. Take for example the fact that the Jewish authorities were responsible for the death of Jesus; they connived and plotted his death with the hope that one man’s death would save the nation. The nation they hoped to protect was Israel and they hoped to protect it from a very jittery Roman occupier who wanted to maintain the peace at all costs.

The fear of a mob swelling in support of Jesus, who challenged the very foundation and notions of a distorted faith ( distorted by the religious leaders ironically) was something the Jewish authorities could not risk for they knew the Romans would come down hard on them. So they built a case based on lies, false witnesses; they packed the benches and intimidated Pilate into pronouncing a death sentence.

His death they hoped had been done and dusted; unfortunately they did not factor in the Holy Spirit. Now the apostles are determined not to be silenced for they “must obey God and not any human authority”. By now the ranks of the apostles and believers have way out numbered the might of the Jewish leaders and the temple guards. The teachings of the apostles have ‘gone viral’ for ‘Jerusalem is filled with their teaching’  and fear has set once again in the hearts of the Jewish authorities for the nightmare they hoped they had ‘taken care of’ has come to haunt them even by day.

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Faith

Jail break- Wednesday, 2nd week of Easter- Acts 5:17-26

The narration of today tells us of the first jail break in the New Testament, and that too assisted by an angel. I guess heaven knows how to pick locks! But as much as this thought brings a smile to our face, what also should bring a smile is the witness of the apostles, for they had ‘faith without fear’.

There is nothing more terrifying than a justice system rooted in corruption. In this case the system was also motivated by ‘jealousy’ (5:17). The apostles have had great success with their evangelization, for we know that a record eight thousand people have joined their ranks and as 5:14 tells us, “a great number of both men and women were added to the Lord” (not to a Church or preacher as happens today).

The arrest of the apostles is not motivated by wrongdoing on their part but because of jealousy on the part of no less than the High Priest and a sect of the Sadducees.  At this time, Joseph Caiaphas, known simply as Caiaphas, was the actual high priest, having been appointed in A.D. 17. He was deposed A.D. 37.

Caiaphas had married the daughter of Annas. Even though out of office, Annas seems to have exercised a dominant influence, perhaps, as the Nasi, the Prince, or President, of the Sanhedrin, during the remainder of his life. If he presided on this occasion, it may explain why St. Luke calls Annas “the high priest.”

It is the same Caiaphas who is said to have organized the plot to kill Jesus. Caiaphas is also said to have been involved in the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus. He had a good working relationship with the Roman authorities, and that explains why he stayed on in power for so long. Now, ‘the’ Jesus whom he plotted against, has come back and the believers keep growing.

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Faith

Common-ism is not communism- Tuesday, 2nd week of Easter – Acts 4:32-37

I think the take away from this text must match the wonder and awe of the passage, as we read through it. The sense of community living in the early Church seems too good to be true; perhaps it was, as we will see in (5:1-6). But a point is being made here; when we share, we show we care.

Without a doubt, the early church lived a spirit of common-fellowship or as it was known in Greek, koinonia. This word appears twenty times in the Bible and refers to a twofold activity; of worshiping together and holding all their possessions in common (Acts 2:42-47).

While the common worship may not alarm many, for that is exactly what we do on a Sunday, the suggestion of holding all our possession in common may send many scampering out of our Church with the more capitalist minded calling such a move ‘communism’.

There is a difference between communism and ‘common-ism’.  Communism is when things are held commonly but under force or threat. Common-ism is when things are freely held together because they are given in love. The early church exhorted its members to live this ‘koinonia’, but we know from the story in Acts 5:1-6 that all in the early church did not subscribe entirely to this thought.

While the example of Barnabas, a native of Crete, is given as a positive example of one who sold his land and laid it at the feet of the apostles, there is also the story of a couple, Ananias and Sapphira, who, having sold their property kept some money back. We are told that both paid with their lives.

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Faith

The Annunciation, 1913. Oil on canvas, 98 x 124 cm. RF1977-138; Lux1031. Photo: Peter Willi.

An angel in the bedroom- The Annunciation of the Lord- Luke 1: 26-38

Somewhere in the loud voice of the Church, projecting over the centuries, the big “yes” of Mary, is an adolescent girl who was terrified on seeing an angel. Centuries of romanticising Mary’s ‘yes’ has perhaps taken away from her , the  overwhelmingly shocking fear of finding an angel hovering in her bedroom (the bedroom part is prose license). This was big news for Mary and it would take a lot more than a ‘I think you need to sit down and listen to this one’.   And yet from this simple Jewish maiden comes the ‘yes’ that gave us so great a redeemer.

Was it easy for Mary to say yes? Did she truly understand what was even going on? To rob Mary of her human emotions and feelings would do grave injustice to her and to us. We usually tend to get to the end of the story, but what about the beginning? This narrative tells us she was ‘afraid’. I guess that’s putting it mildly. She should have been ‘freaked out’, for that’s what happens when you get an angel in your bedroom, news of your pregnancy, an immaculate conception, promises of a great Son of the Most High who is to get a throne and bewilderment, as to what you are to tell your fiancé, parents, neighbours and God knows who else.

It must have been the longest five minutes of her life, especially when the angel is doing all the talking. Yet her two interjections say so much. It reflects her perplexity and it reflects her surrender. This is what gives me strength when I look at Mary; I find encouragement knowing that I too am afraid of the many things that God demands in my life. True I have not seen an angel in my bedroom, but I can’t deny the many callings to serve Him, the many times He challenges me, the many times He harkens me to obedience. Am I afraid? Yes! Should you be? Yes of course!

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Art/ Heritage

THE PROFESSION OF FAITH: ‘The Incredulity of St. Thomas’ by Caravaggio (1601 -1602)

 On the evening of the first day of the Resurrection, Christ appeared to His apostles and bestowed upon them the gift of peace. Poor Thomas missed the apparition. Disillusioned and disturbed he refused to believe and blurted out, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in His hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

A week had passed since. It was supper time and the disciples bowed their heads to pray. They remembered with great joy their encounter with the Risen Lord. To Thomas this made no sense.  He was bitter and disappointed. Deep down his fragile heart he wondered whether the words of his friends were true. If indeed they were, he felt dejected for having missed the encounter with his Risen Saviour.

As he bowed his head to pray, he struggled. The battle in his mind grew stronger. Suddenly he heard a familiar sound that calmed the storm within him, ‘Peace be with you.’ the voice said. Thomas at once recognised that this was indeed his Master. Jesus lovingly called out to Thomas and invited him to fulfil his desire. Embarrassed, Thomas dared not meet His Master’s eye.

Caravaggio, the father of the Baroque school of art, with the masterful stroke of his brush brings this episode to life. His colours brilliantly agree with the dark inorder to throw light on the Gospel and the faith that it proclaims. His painting dwells on the most famously dubbed ‘doubting Thomas’.

Four meticulously rendered figures complete the canvas. Although Christ face is shadowed, his chest and white garments are bathed in light. The light enters the canvas through an external source. It leads us in a circular motion from Jesus to Thomas and from Thomas to the other two apostles. Completing the circle we are once again drawn to Christ, the first and last figure we behold.

Notice the garb of Thomas. It is ripped indicating his poverty, rather his poor faith. It also mirrors his debacle between his doubt and his desire to believe. He bends low and peers closely at the open side, his left hand perched doggedly on his hip. As he stretches out his quivering finger towards the stigmata, Christ Himself indulgently holds his hand and guides his probing finger into the gaping open wound. As the skin is pushed up by the invading knuckle, Thomas gasps in amazement. His doubt dissolves into belief. His raw emotion permeates the beauty of this canvas. The quest for empirical data was complete.

St. Thomas at once realised that this was not a ghostly Christ. Rather his encounter bore witness to the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus our Saviour. Christ here was real flesh and blood.  He was tangible, palpable and alive. Awestruck, Thomas opened his heart and exclaimed, ‘My Lord and My God.’ His faith was restored and made whole.

The other two apostles, namely Peter and John, overlooking the scene, stand in absolute fascination as they bear witness to the tangible phenomenon. The emphasis on the physical, rather Real Presence of Christ was crucial in Caravaggio’s day and age, as the winds of the Counter Reformation grew stronger. 

As the Easter songs of Alleluia resound the room, in the shadows of Christ face one perceives a vulnerable Saviour. Tenderly, he gazes at the curious faces of His apostles and friends. His poignancy stands in contrast to their searching stares and poking noses. Christ, by revealing His wounded side, represents the new Adam, who gave birth to a new Eve. Undoubtedly this new Eve is the bride of Christ i.e. the Church; the Church that still professes the faith of St. Thomas, ‘My Lord and My God!’

 

Joynel Fernandes- Asst. Director- Archdiocesan Heritage Museum

 

In thankfulness to God for the Gift of 18 years in the priesthood- Fr Warner D’Souza

For a scriptural understanding of the Gospel please refer to: http://www.pottypadre.com/?s=Doubting+Thomas

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