Faith

The great persecution- Monday, 33rd Week in ordinary time- 1 Mc 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63

Alexander the Great, who studied under Aristotle, had a vision of uniting the world under Hellenism. Hellenism is the promotion of the Greek language and culture. He succeeds his father Philip in the year 336 BC and defeats the Persian king Darius III that year.

Contrary to popular belief, the division of Alexander’s kingdom was not done at his behest from his deathbed but was a slow break-up of the Empire. After his death, his generals (the ‘diadochi’) began to fight. The two power centres after Alexander were the Ptolemy’s and the Seleucid’s. One of his generals, Seleucus, occupied Babylon in 311 BC. He and the four others become ‘kings’ in 306 BC.

The Greeks in their bid to Hellenize followed a policy of persuasion rather than enforcement. The Jews of the diaspora gradually absorbed Greek Culture. As a consequence the Greek speaking Jews could no longer understand Hebrew Scriptures. Beginning In the third century the Hebrew Scriptures was translated in to Greek. The Jews of Palestine were impacted by Hellenistic colonies that dotted the land of Palestine. Names of places now change e.g. Sebaste to Samaria

Then the Seleucid king, Antiochus III defeated the Ptolemy’s and won over Asia Minor turning their sight to Egypt. In 198 BC, in Panium, near the Jordan headwaters, he shatters the Egyptian army and drove it from Asia. Antiochus now annexes Palestine and makes it part of the Seleucid empire.

But Antiochus III grows big for his boots and dares Rome. He assists the Greeks in the fight against Rome. Rome declares war in 192 BC and drove him out from Europe following the defeated king into Asia, trumping him in Magnesia in 190. In 187 Antiochus III is killed while robbing money from the temple in Elam to pay the Romans For the Jews, things begin to change from now on.

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Art/ Heritage

OF OIL PAINTS AND ‘TALENTS’: The Parable of the Talents by Willem de Porter

An image speaketh a thousand words

The art of painting for long has chiseled and enamored the heart, mind, soul and spirit of man. Paintings narrate stories sprinkled with colors and life. The material, style and technique have come a long way through the ages.

Essentially a painting involves applying pigment onto a supporting base. The pigment has to  be combined with a binding medium to prepare the paint. This medium could range from hot bees wax in encaustic painting, to egg yolk in tempera and oil in oil painting.

Prominent since the 1500’s, oil painting includes pigment mixed with linseed, poppy seed or walnut oil. A trump card indeed, the oil provides flexibility and depth to the color. In addition, since oil paint is slow to dry, it gives the painter the benefit of time.

Now the supporting base for an oil painting could be a canvas or a panel. Today’s painting in consideration titled ‘The Parable of the Talents’ by Willem De Porter is an oil on wood panel painting. What technique did the artist employ to accomplish this work of art?

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Food

On Monday I moved out of my residence in Malad East which served as my residence as parish priest of St Jude Church, for the last six and a half years. The residential complex is now undergoing major repairs. I moved into an apartment int Orlem on second Dominic Lane.

I fell in love with the apartment the minute I stepped in; it was bright and airy with wonderful breeze that keeps the place well ventilated. Since this is a rented apartment, I had to respect the landlords sentiments. One of the great challenges was the kitchen. Being a chef by profession, I love to have my spices at hand and the home had very little storage. Being an artist I wanted to combine art and convenience together.

In order to preserve the tiles in my new residence and without drilling a hole in them, a board was mounted with fitting metal legs.The screws is all that holds the top of the board to the wall. Painted in black board paint, it serves as a medium to write notes and labels in the gaps. The colours of the kitchen items and the  spices accentuate the kitchen space. The wall also serves as a space for memorabilia; like the cup given to me by my brother Sean D’Souza to celebrate the Christmas of 2000, the year of my ordination.

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Art/ Heritage

VANITAS ET VERITAS: The Parable of the wise and foolish virgins by Francken Hieronymus the Younger (1616)

We now plunge into the sixth and the last discourse of the Gospel of Matthew known as the Eschatological or the apocalyptic discourse. Consisting of Chapter 24 and 25, it revolves around the themes of Parousia (Greek word for ‘arrival’) or the Lord’s second coming. To elaborate upon this theme Matthew presents 3 parables. The painting in consideration is concerned with the second parable namely, ‘The Wise and the Foolish Virgins’.

The allegorical reading taken from Matthew chapter 25 verses 1 to 13 employs a number of images that would be familiar to the first century recipients. The first is that of a marriage. In modern times it is usually the bride who gets ‘fashionably late’ for the nuptials while the groom anxiously awaits his beloved. Not so was the scene in Jesus’ day and age.

Wedding festivities lasted for seven days. On this joyous occasion the bridesmaids would await the arrival of the bridegroom with lamps and would greet him in a procession of lights. The groom, as in today’s parable, is the lord of surprises. He comes at an hour unknown.

Francken the Younger translates this allegory into reality through his painting. Here the camera focuses on two groups of bridesmaids who wait in anticipation for the groom’s arrival. The activity they indulge in is what distinguishes one group from the other.

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Faith

Access denied; the parable of the ten virgins.  – Matthew 25: 1-13

The reason why the parable of the wise and foolish servants is followed by the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids or virgins, is simply to reiterate a point; the need for readiness for the day of the Lord. These two parables form part of a series of four Matthean parables that illustrate the Parousia and the final judgment.

Matthew, like the Old Testament prophets, employs nuptial imagery to describe the relationship between God and His people (remember the book of Hosea). Clearly the ten bridesmaids are representatives of the disciples whose love grows dim because of the delay of the Parousia (the second coming of Jesus).

The parable which is more of an allegory, employs a number of images that Matthew’s community would have been most familiar with. The Nuptial imagery was further heightened by the banquet imagery, symbolic of messianic banquet at the end times when the blessed would share a meal with the Messiah. Then there was the imagery of the ‘bridegroom,’ symbolic of Jesus Himself.

Wedding festivities lasted several days in the time of Jesus. The bride and groom would make a long journey home. This journey was not long because of the length that needed to be traversed, but because the bride and groom would feel obliged to respond to several invitations to stop and celebrate their joyous occasion with friends and family. This parable is a bit of a tricky one for we don’t know if the groom is headed to the bride’s home or is accompanying his bride to his home. There is no mention of the bride at all simply because that’s not the focus of the parable.

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