Faith

A matter of the heart- Monday of the first week of Lent-MT 25: 31-46

We know that Jesus is REALLY PRESENT in the Eucharist, but He is also ‘really present’ in the poor. In scripture we read, “what so ever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters that you do unto me.”  So when ever we reach out to the poor, it’s not ‘as if ‘ we were doing it for the Lord; we ‘are’ doing it to Him. Jesus is really present in the hungry, naked, lonely, and sick and those  in prison. So any good we do, we do it to Jesus himself.

This passage of Matthew is taken from the last of the “great sermons” preached by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel.  The JBC describes this passage as a master piece, the high point and grand finale of last of Matthew’s five discourses. As this sermon draws to a close we find our self stepping directly int the Passion Narrative. This is Jesus farewell message to the masses, the last sermon of his public ministry and His personal appeal to us to prepare ourselves, if we wish to enter the kingdom. The list that Jesus enumerates contains six of the seven corporal acts of mercy (the one missing is the burial of the dead) .

When you look at the life of Jesus, it is clear that he made a ‘preferential option for the poor’; a recurring theme in the Gospels. Mother Teresa often said that the Gospel can be summarized in five words; ‘you- did- it-unto- me’. These humble words, each not exceeding four letters of the alphabet, carry the strongest message not only of Christian almsgiving but love in action.

Jesus’ call to almsgiving is not a mere distribution of one’s wealth. When Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees because he did not follow their customs of ritually cleansing the cup and dishes before eating, He responded by saying that if they really wanted to be cleansed, they should give away the contents of those vessels: “Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil; but as to what is within, give alms, and behold everything will be clean for you.” (Luke 11:39-41)

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Art/ Heritage

PICTURING THE PASSION: ‘Christ washing His disciples’ feet’ by Tintoretto (1548-49)

 The narrative of today’s painting is simple and yet its significance is revolutionary. The Gospel of John recites: ‘Jesus got up from the table removed His outer garment, and taking a towel wrapped it around his waist. Then he poured water in a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet.’ Clearly, Jesus employs simple ordinary means to express His magnificent extra-ordinary love.

The love for this theme of art is best expressed by the Italian painter ‘Tintoretto’. Born Jacopo Comin, Tintoretto (the little dyer) took his name from his father’s profession of dyeing (tintore in Italian). Noticing the paint daubs on the dyer’s wall, his father apprenticed him to the studio of Titian. However as fate would have it, Titian sent the young chap home in 10 days, apparently ‘jealous’ of his extra-ordinary skills.

These spectacular skills were spelled out in most of his paintings with phenomenal energy that earned him the term ‘Il Furioso’. He imitated the bold muscular style of the Mannerist school of art while emulating the colour and light of the Venetian school. It is with this noble conception that he placed above his studio a plaque that read, ‘Il disegno di Michelangelo et il colorito di Tiziano’ (The design of Michelangelo and the colour of Titian).

Tintoretto staged his narratives as a theatre director. He employed light and dark, foreshortening in order to transform religious scenes into enthralling performances. The spirit of Counter Reformation reverberated through his art works. One such beat is ‘Christ washing His disciples’ feet’. Painted in 1548 – 49 for the Church of St. Mark, currently it is on display at the Prado Museum in Spain.

Tintoretto approaches the narrative in a practical manner. The foot washing would have probably lasted for 40 minutes. He therefore does not paint his subjects in solemn silence. Rather on the wings of his imagination he soars beyond sanity.

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Faith

When dinner is not used for diplomacy- Saturday after Ash Wednesday- ISAIAH 58:9B-14/LUKE 5:27-32

So what’s with Jesus eating and drinking all the while? Consider this; His public ministry began in Cana at a wedding feast and ended in Jerusalem at the last supper. Both were meals! He was at Lazarus’ home, there were meals for the four thousand and five thousand. He was eating in the house of Zacchaeus, the home of the Pharisee and on the road to Emmaus. Some scripture scholars jokingly say that Jesus ate his way through the gospels.

And then there was the criticism of where He ate and with whom He ate. Shockingly, joining the never ending chorus of complaints from the Pharisees were the disciples of John the Baptist. “Your disciples do not fast!” they complained. In general, they were more than uncharitable to Jesus when they called him a glutton and friend of drunkards. How did He react? Simple, He ‘memorialized it,’ forever! “Take”, He says to us at every Eucharist, “and eat, for this is my body.”

But for a Jew, dinner was more than diplomacy. Sharing a meal was an invitation into one’s inner circle and hence you can see why the Pharisees saw red. Every Jew was well aware who he should or should not eat with. Jesus was eating with those whom the Pharisees had always condemned as sinners. Jesus, gentle as He is, merely called them ‘lost’ and over a meal, showed them the way to heaven.

 Jesus ate with ‘tax collectors’ and ‘sinners’, in fact He had a penchant for them; people like Zacchaeus and now this chap, Levi. Tax collectors were double trouble; they were perceived by their fellow Jews as colluding with the Roman Empire and to top it all they made their living by charging more than they passed on to the Roman rulers. For the Jews, such people were ‘sinners’ and were lumped in the same category of prostitutes and criminals.

But Jesus looks at the heart and He sees more than what the Pharisees saw. He sees beyond a scheming tax collector and recognizes a potential gospel writer. Yes, many believe that Levi is Matthew, the Gospel writer. So here is something we can learn. God sees a saint in a sinner; but like Levi, the choice of saying yes to being His disciple, must be ours.

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Faith

BE CALM AND FAST ON- Friday after Ash Wednesday-  IS 58:1-9A/MT 9:14-15

Seriously, can you guys make up your mind! I can almost hear this from the pew as I prepare this reflection. Well for starters, the clarion cry of the Church on Ash Wednesday was voiced by the choice of the readings; fast through Lent, albeit privately. Two days later, the Friday after Ash Wednesday, God seems to say in the first reading that He does not want our fast; or should I say almost abhors the fast of the Israelites.

Jesus compounds the matter by answering the disciples of John the Baptist, who strangely have joined the voices of the Pharisees, in asking why Jesus’ disciples don’t fast. His reply, “Can the wedding guest’s mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?” So why then are we fasting during Lent?

Put your mind to rest! ‘BE CALM and FAST ON’. I say this because all we need is a better understanding of the first reading. Taken from the final section of Isaiah, known as “Third Isaiah” (Isaiah 56-66), the first reading, was written to the residents of Jerusalem during and after Israel’s return in 539 BCE.  The Babylonian exile had lasted 50 years, and under prophets like Haggai and Zechariah the people have returned to rebuild their homeland. In the midst of this joyful return they were expecting a reward especially for their fasts. What they get is instead is God’s judgment.  They Israelites were genuinely confused. They think that by fasting they will please God and bring favour. Indeed, how could God not be pleased? And yet He was not!

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Faith

Christianity -No hidden clauses, no small print!

Thursday after Ash Wednesday- DT 30:15-20/PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6/LK 9:22-25

“IF”, says God! These two letters of the alphabet, when put together, make for a deadly combination with far reaching consequences for a Christian. And “IF”, is the operative word for Christian life.  Make no mistake; there is no force to follow Christianity even for a baptized Christian who lives with a million “what ifs” in his or her mind. But once you say ‘yes’ to the IF, then there is no BUT!

In our readings of today, Moses, reflecting the mind of God, says precisely that. ‘If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, then you receive from his hand the gifts of life.’ He also says, ‘If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen, but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish. While some may see in it a pressure to conform, that most certainly is not God’s mind. He wants the choice to be our and so He places the consequences of our choices before us when he says, “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then.

But here is what God won’t do. He won’t make the choice for us. He will suggest what He thinks is right, He will plead that we make the right decision; but he won’t choose for us. That stretching forth to choose, especially during Lent, is a choice we have to consciously make.

Jesus too, offers us that very same choice. He says “IF you wish to be my disciple, deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me”. Unlike the gospel of Matthew and Mark, the gospel of Luke uses the word ‘daily’. Not only is Jesus offering us a choice to follow him, He also lays the conditions of discipleship squarely on the table. There are no hidden clauses for a Christian, there is no small print and the cross looms large in the contract. Luke wants to stress that the day- to- day following of Jesus involves “the cross”.

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