Art/ Heritage

GOD PROVIDES: ‘The Sacrifice of Isaac’ by Caravaggio (1603)

This is the period of the Baroque and Caravaggio is regarded its father. While the Mannerist school of art strongly relied on allegories and metaphors, the Baroque school used intensified drama and emotions to evolve and involve the viewer into the narrative. Backed by the Counter Reformation, the Baroque catered to educate and enhance the faith of ordinary laymen through elaborate, extra-ordinary forms of art. The surge of this era is witnessed and echoed in today’s painting by Caravaggio titled ‘The Sacrifice of Isaac’; painted for Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII.

Through the centuries the episode of the ‘Sacrifice of Isaac’ for the Christians or the ‘Akedah’ (binding of Isaac) for the Jews has stimulated heated interpretations. Is it a story of a cruel God? or a deluded Abraham? Is it a story of religion at its worst or faith at its best? Or is it a story of divine providence?

Caravaggio, through his brush, places us up close to the scene of the sacrifice, pursuing a first-hand interpretation and understanding.

It is the climax of the story. The moment is tense and full of suspense; the figures are stressed. The Angel firmly freezes Abraham’s hand; Abraham clutches the knife and pins down his only son Isaac while Isaac shrieks. In a fraction the future would be determined. The obscurity and aggressive naturalism of the scene reflects the turbulence in Caravaggio’s own life. Regarded a rabble-rouser, Caravaggio was often caught in rebellious assaults, crime and even murder.

Through his painting, Caravaggio captures the divine in the earthly realm. He intertwines the two worlds through a sensational struggle between unconditional cruelty and unconditional loyalty. Notice the two groups as they connect and dialogue on parallel fronts. The first forming the spiritual composes of the Angel, Abraham and the Ram. The second consisting of the earthly is represented through the figures of Abraham, the knife and the boy Isaac.

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Faith

Hell is not my neighbour- 1st Week of Lent- Saturday-Matthew 5: 43-48

So Jesus’ run in with the Pharisees continues.  It was the Pharisees who interpreted the Torah for four hundred years, in the absence of the prophets, unto the time of Jesus.  In their zeal to be mediators between God and man, they got the law wrong and the spirit completely wrong.  For Jesus the law was the lowest common denominator. His expectation from a Christian was always, more! And so Matthew chapter 5 plays out these six hyper theses, the call for more! Today’s Gospel plays out the last of the six hyper theses.

 The Pharisees had interpreted the law concerning ones relationship with regard to neighbours and enemies in the most conveniently contrived way. They mandated that one was to love ones neighbour and hate ones enemy. Interestingly, the ‘popular quote’ interpreted by the Pharisees and lived by the Jews, was itself, an incomplete presentation of what the law really said.

Leviticus 19:18, the source of this ‘popular saying’ on neighbours and enemies  actually called for the love of neighbour to be in the same measure as one loved oneself, a section conveniently omitted by the Pharisees.  Further, there was no reference, anywhere in the law, about hating ones enemy; again an addition brought in by the Pharisees. So the Pharisees had done a very convenient cut and paste job.

So what was the agenda of the Pharisees? Why mislead the people with half-truths? In limiting love to one’s neighbour, the Pharisees effectively limited the understanding of ones neighbour only to a fellow Jew and by doing that they officially signalled that all non-Jews were the enemy, who could be hated.  This was nothing but state sponsored hate.

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Thoughts from the first talk preached this morning by Lenny Soares at our parish mission at St Jude Church

The invitation of Jesus to us, during the season of Lent is to “come to me (Him) all who labour”. In the season of Lent Jesus does not say to us “go to this mission or attend this programme or activity” ( don’t use this as a justification to not go without understanding the rest of the text) . What Jesus is asking us to do in Lent is to first   BE WITH HIM- He is the reason for the season. No preacher can take centre stage in Lent, the spotlight belongs to the Lord. 

The word He uses is “come”; the call is personal and the invitation is directly from Jesus (to me). This call is not to a select few, for Jesus says,” come to me ALL you who labour.” For Jesus there is no distinction between rich or poor, saint or sinner; all are welcome .

The missions we attend, the Lenten disciplines we follow are tools to come close to Him. They are a means to an end and not an end in itself for Jesus is at the heart of Lent; He is the heart.

#shareHisWORD #CommentsEncourage #pottypadre

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Prayer list or hit list?- Friday, 1st Week of Lent- Matthew 5: 20-26

St Matthew’s presentation of Jesus is that of The Great Teacher who gives five discourses in the gospel. The opening discourse is the Sermon on the Mount (Chapter 5-7) in which Jesus, addressing His disciples, has placed identity before behaviour. This behaviour is given to them in the beatitudes; a behaviour that is in stark contrast to the scribes and Pharisees who have forgotten the commandments and have pandered to man-made traditions.

Jesus could have come merely to establish The Law, but He comes to fulfill it; and in doing so He goes way beyond what The Law demanded from Him and by extension, to us. This sets the stage for a scathing attack on the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. In the first of six hyper theses, Jesus demands that the disciples really push the envelope. The JBC says, “The present interpretations emphasize that Jesus seems to go beyond the Old Testament law teachings, by deepening and radicalizing it, by returning to the original will of God.” In lay man’s terms, Jesus finds the traditional interpretations of The Law presented by the Pharisees as inadequate, though not false. He begins by tackling the sixth commandment, “thou shalt not murder” which is found in verses 21-26.

For Jesus, the analysis of murder as good or bad, is a given! He wants us to take a deeper look at the ‘emotional prelude to murder’, namely anger. The act is but a reflection of a deeper activity in the heart. Even as a priest, I see that the one thing that everyone wants to rid themselves off, including myself, is anger. Yet, how seriously do we take its eradication from our life? Never in our wildest dreams would we think that we could be murderers. But Jesus goes beyond the improbability and addresses the possibility.

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Art/ Heritage

Picturing the Passion: ‘Taking of Christ’ by Caravaggio (1602)

 This is the story of betrayal, crime, murder and mystery. The protagonists vary; their passion prolongs!

We begin with the artist himself. The great and brilliant Caravaggio goes down in history as the legendary bad boy.  His life was termed turbulent; his attitude – mad, bad and perilous. He lived by the sword and was apparently prosecuted for having carried one in public without a license. His litany of infringements include throwing a plate of artichokes in the waiter’s face, casting a sword against another man in a love dispute, hurling stones at his landlady and the worst of all murdering a man over a tennis match brawl.

With the eventual death sentence hanging round his neck, he flees from Rome to Naples, Sicily and Malta. Thanks to his powerful Roman lobby, in the summer of 1610 he receives a pardon for his crime. As he sails northwards towards Rome the news of his sudden spasmodic death spreads throughout the region. The cause was cited to be fever but later argued to be a murder. The confusion and mystery surrounding his life and death is also reflected in his painting, ‘Taking of Christ’.

It is a moment of betrayal; a sellout of loyalty. Caravaggio captures this chaos with utmost integrity. In the dense darkness of the night a distressed Christ craves comfort.  He battles His spiritual agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. However the waiting trio can’t keep from sleep. Suddenly the stillness is shattered and the darkness is driven by leaping flames of torches and lanterns. As the sound of marching feet and clanking armour draws near, terror evades the now wide eyed apostles.

In the midst of clamouring confusion a familiar figure walks up to embrace his motionless and defenceless Master. His treacherous kiss recalled the agreement, ‘The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him and take him away under guard.’  Garbed in traditional yellow, Judas grips Jesus with his grubby left hand and stares at Him in perplexed anxiety. He almost fears Christ response. Ill at ease, his heart jerked in a sudden realisation of the stain and tarnished name he left to history. That was the beginning of a remorse that eventually led to a self murder.

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