Faith

The cat among the pigeons- Thursday, 7th Week of Easter- Acts 22:30; 23:6-11

Paul arrives in Jerusalem to be convinced by James to show some sort of token appreciation for the Jewish Law. A number of Jews in Jerusalem had become Christians yet they continued to follow the Mosaic Law and look upon Paul as one who has betrayed the Jewish Law and people by making concessions for the Gentiles who embraced Christ without first embracing the Jewish law and customs.

Relenting to what seems to be a minor rite of purification (shaving one’s head), Paul enters the temple to offer sacrifice. Unfortunately the Jews from Asia, who had never seen eye to eye with Paul on his missionary journeys, now spot him in the temple accusing him of teaching against the law. But to fuel this fire they falsely accuse him of bringing Greeks into the inner court of the temple, a crime punishable by death.

 A riot breaks out and Paul’s life is only spared by the arrival of the tribune and a Roman cohort. Paul is bound in chains and taken to barracks only to be followed by an enraged mob of Jews baying for his blood in words that similarly condemned Jesus. The tribune too mistakes Paul for an Egyptian who had recently stirred up a revolt, leading four thousand assassins into the wilderness.

So Paul reveals his identity; He is a Jew from Tarsus (notice he reveals his Roman citizenship much later, like a trump card pulled out of a pack). Paul asks to address the Jews for even now he wants them to be won over for the sake of Christ. Having been permitted to address the mob he testifies publically to his past and present, telling them of his conversion and how he was sent to the Gentiles to evangelize. But the very word Gentile was enough to trigger the Jews, like a stone to a hive; they rush out buzzing mad with not just with the intention to sting Paul but to kill him.

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Faith

When Paul wept- Wednesday, 7th Week in Easter – Acts 20:28-38

Paul’s farewell speech to the elders of Ephesus, whom he called to be with him in Miletus, now draws to an end. This address, the only one he makes to an entirely Christian community ends most emotionally and one can sense the great bond that Paul developed with the Ephesians, for it is here that he spent three years of his life during the last missionary journey.

Paul is no idealistic fool or sentimental leader. He is fully aware of the opposition faced by him in Ephesus both from the Greeks and the Jews. There were also the Judaizers, Jews who now followed Christ but who had rejected the decision of the council of Jerusalem which opened its doors to the Gentiles albeit with conditions. These Judaizers continued to be a thorn in Paul’s side, questioning his authority as apostle and his teachings. The seeds of doubt that they sowed were scattered in practically every city that Paul had ministered to.

Paul now entrusts the Church of Ephesus to be guarded by the elders; not only the care of the flock but also of themselves. Christian leaders are no strangers to the assault of the evil one. Jesus himself said that the shepherd will be struck and the sheep scattered. Paul wants the elders to guard themselves first from “the savage wolves “who ‘will spring from the flock’.

The enemies of Christ are not always an adversary standing outside the door of the Church but perhaps holding a prayer book inside. So how should the Christian leader protect oneself? This they must do by keeping communion with the Lord. The Christian leader must be in fellowship with the Lord or they cannot expect to be spiritual guides to “shepherd the Church.”

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Faith

Mirroring Christ – Tuesday, 7th Week of Easter- Acts 20:17-27

Paul is on his third missionary journey and has landed in Ephesus (modern day Turkey) but his desire is to go to Rome via Jerusalem. (19:21). He has made a substantial collection for the poor of Jerusalem and he wishes to give this to them. He sends his two helpers, Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia while he stayed on in Ephesus only to end up being mired in a riot due to his teaching.

As it happened, Paul’s teaching of faith in the “living God” caused a significant financial loss to those who made silver shrines of the goddess Artemis or Diana. The temple dedicated to this fertility goddess was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The riot that was stirred up by the artisans led by a man called Demetrius was enough to end Paul’s three year sojourn in Ephesus. Though the riot was quelled, Paul knew that it was best he left Ephesus for the safety of the Christians in Ephesus.

Artists image of the temple of Diana (Artemis)

Trouble had a way of following Paul even though he left Ephesus for Macedonia and then for Greece. Once again in In Greece as in Ephesus, he had to leave in haste because the Jews were plotting to kill him. So Paul makes a journey through Macedonia to Troas (Troy) from where he heads (via several cities) over five days and four ports to a place called Miletus which is about 78 kilometres (modern Google map) to Ephesus.

It is In Miletus that he calls for the elders of the Church to meet with him. There are several theories as to why he did not make the journey himself; for now it is sufficient to know that the community respected him enough for the elders to make their way to see him.

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Art/ Heritage

UP AND ONWARDS: The Iconography of the Ascension in Art through the ages

 It is the fortieth day after Resurrection. We are back to the square where Jesus entered into His Passion – The Mount of Olives. At this moment, Jesus having culminated His earthly life is now passing from the world to His Father. He has assigned to His disciples the task of announcing the Gospel and has promised to send His Helper. Amid astonishment and gasps He is then lifted from their sight.

As the apostles stare into space, their astounded gaze is interrupted by the address of the heavenly beings. ‘Men of Galilee, why gaze in wonder at heavens? This Jesus whom you saw ascending into heaven will return as you saw Him go.’ (Acts 1: 6 – 14). 

The theme of the Ascension naturally inspired art. Paintings dating back to the 5th century often depicted the episode in two zones: the earthy and the divine. While in the spiritual sphere Christ is portrayed ascending into heaven, the main characters of the terrestrial sphere included the disciples, the Blessed Virgin Mary and of course the angels.

The depiction of the Ascension was subject to interpretation and iconography. Through today’s article we will journey through history and its varied frames of the Ascension bound by fantastic forms, features and illustrations.

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Opinion

No jokes please, just break The Word

About a year and a half ago I felt convicted by the Lord to start breaking ‘The Word’ at mass. I am not a scripture scholar and to be honest while I passed my scripture classes in seminary with flying colours, little entered my head or my heart. If I write scripture exegesis today it is with much fear and trepidation yet with the confidence that that while the words are mine, the thoughts are His.

I always took the trouble to prepare my homilies but in time came to realise that most of them were what people wanted;  interesting stories, jokes, anecdotes and ‘practical examples’.  For this I received much acclamation and was constantly called to preach across the Archdiocese of Bombay.

When the people of this tiny parish in Malad East, to whom I  minister ( and they do the same right back)suggested the need for a better understanding of scripture, I thought to myself, why not do it where is should be, at the time of the homily. At every Eucharist, we are fed from two tables, the table of the bread (altar) and the table of the word (lectern). The ‘breaking of The Word’ is exactly what it means, explain the scriptures. It is not a time for lengthy catechesis, not a time for imparting life skills and most certainly not a time for a moral lecture.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Phillip is led by the Spirit to approach the Ethiopian eunuch, the finance minister of the Queen of Candace. He was reading the prophet Isaiah but had no understanding of it for he says to Philip, “How can I unless someone guides me.” (Acts 8:31) And guide him, Philip did. This is the role of the priest and deacon at Mass, to explain the scriptures.

So should we not tell an anecdote at all? Should we never crack a joke or share life examples? Of course we should but the question must be asked, what drives the homily, the anecdote or the scripture? If the anecdote or example helps deepen the understanding of the scripture then by all means uses it.

When we were in seminary we were taught a method of preaching a homily. The long and short of the method was this; begin with ‘a starter’, explain the scriptures, give a few examples and perhaps share a personal example (testimony). While this sounds excellent on paper the demand for a ten minutes homily leaves the explanation of God’s Word to barely two minutes. This is certainly no feeding for a hungry flock.

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