Faith

Monday, 1st week of Advent – Matthew 8: 5-12

Imagine Jesus saying to us, “man you rock”. That would make more than just our day, it would make our year.  A compliment means more to anyone when it comes from someone significant and Jesus pays a superlative compliment because he was ‘amazed’ by the faith of this gentle giant who had a hundred men at this command. It was his faith which impressed Jesus, not the position he held.

The words of faith expressed by the centurion, have not only found itself in the liturgy of the Church but has been positioned as an acclamation of faith before we receive the Lord in Holy Communion albeit with a slight modification; “I am not worthy to have you under my roof, only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” No matter who we are, no matter what position we hold, we humbly echo at every Eucharistic celebration the words of faith spoken two thousand years ago by perhaps the first convert to the faith.

The centurion was seeking help and his appeal to Jesus was for someone he had grown to care and love; his servant. Yet this centurion exhibited great sensitivity to Jesus. Ritually, Jesus would have been unclean if he had entered the home of a Gentile such as this centurion, besides the Roman centurion represented the hate the Jews had for an occupying force. Being seen in a Romans house would sound alarm bells of treachery and no self- respecting Rabbi would pull off a disastrous public relation stunt that would end a ‘career’ just when it began.

Jesus was willing to take more than just a chance when he said to the centurion that he would come (to the centurions home) and cure his servant. The centurion now stands in the line of praise for the words he uttered, for he was culturally sensitive not to ruin the reputation of this young rabbi who was willing to risk it all when he offered to enter a Gentile home. Both actions were motived by love and concern for others and their love paid off.

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Faith

Turn on the lights- 1st Sunday of Advent- Mark 13:33-37

Growing up, the season of Advent meant just one thing for me; Christmas is coming. But liturgically the season of advent is all about Christ’s second coming or the Parousia. It is only from the 17th of December, when we begin the “O” Antiphons, an ancient part of our liturgy dating back to the fourth century that the liturgical focus is on Christmas. These antiphons address Christ with seven magnificent Messianic titles, based on the Old Testament prophecies and titles of Christ.

So what are we doing liturgically till the 17th of December you may ask? We are turning on the lights! Sounds strange right? Let me lift the darkness of confusion for you. The first Sunday of Advent resonates with the words ‘Maranatha,’ an Aramaic expression occurring in St. Paul (I Corinthians 16:22). The Christian Fathers understood the term to mean “Our Lord has come.” But more probably it means what St. John has at the close of the New Testament, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

Here in lies the problem in most people’s minds, for if we say ‘come Lord’ then it means He is not with us and if He is not with us, then where is He? Didn’t the Lord promise that He would be with us till the end of time? The reality is that He has not ‘gone anywhere;’ it is just that WE don’t see His presence in our lives clearly ( or may be not at all).

Imagine yourself at a dinner table when the electric grid collapses and you are plunged in darkness. The first collective words heard, are those of frustration. Darkness plunges you into an unfamiliar world and instinct kicks in, pushing you to seek for a source of light. Here in lies the challenge – you have to navigate through the darkness.

Those who are well experienced with the loss of electric power on a regular basis, know that the best solution is to stay still for a few minutes. The darkness, which at first leaves us with a sense of paralysis, is soon subdued, as the gentle moon beams float into the room. Shadowy figures of other persons in the room soon become visible; you can make out external forms and identify one another, albeit in shadowy forms only.

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Art/ Heritage

THE CHRISTMAS CANVAS: ‘The Annunciation’ by Henry Ossawa Tanner

 CHRISTMAS! Up goes the twinkling tree and on go the glistening lights. It’s the season for gifts and candy canes; for fruit cakes and carols. But beyond the bows and mistletoes in a tiny manger lies the true magic of Christmas; of a Saviour born as man!

This magic of Christmas has for long enchanted artist who have employed their flair and brush to narrate a timeless story from the Annunciation to the Presentation.  This Christmas we bring to you the Christmas story through 12 brilliant masterpieces.

It all began in a little town of Galilee named Nazareth. ‘In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a Virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary.’ (Luke 1:26 – 27) In medieval imagination Mary is projected as a pristine and terrified virgin, interrupted at her psalter and enclosed in an ostentatiously decorated room or a garden of an Italian villa. 

In today’s painting, Henry Ossawa Tanner teases this subject in an unconventional manner. He reckons the simplicity of the scene rather than its theatrical recreation. In the intimacy of a chamber Mary is portrayed as a dark haired Jewish peasant girl seated at the edge of her couch in a striped crumpled attire. The orderly arrangement of the room in contrast to her bed confesses that Mary has suddenly been awakened in the night.  

The blinding form of the angel is the only source of light in the room. As this infused flood of golden light falls onto Mary’s face it allures us to where fear begins to give way to contemplation and contemplation to acceptance. It arrests our attention and ignites our imagination.

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Faith

Daniel’s vision of the Four beasts – woodcut by Hans Holbein the Younger

Crushing the little horn- Friday, 34th Week in ordinary time – Daniel 7: 2-14

Chapters one to six of the book of Daniel contained six stories of faithfulness.  Chapters’ seven to twelve contains four visions that Daniel saw.  These visions pertain to the religious crisis that the Jews were undergoing in the second century under Antiochus IV Epiphanes.  

The setting of the visions is still Babylon where Daniel is now an official, though advanced in age.  Daniel is still the hero of this section as he was in the last section but there are differences in the two sections.

In the previous stories Daniel is the interpreter of visions, now he is the recipient of the dreams; he now narrates them. In the stories Daniel is spoken of in the third person, here Daniel narrates the visions in the first person. In both the sections the message is the same; it is an encouragement to the Jews of the Maccabean age to remain loyal to their religion however the form of the message is communicated differently.

The forms used in this section are not stories, but visions; the form is apocalyptic. The author looks forward to the end of the present age.  Apocalyptic thought is always eschatological.  The eyes of Apocalyptist are focused on some future period of time when God will break into this world of time and space to bring the entire present world system to a final judgment.  Apocalyptic thought is also dualistic; it believes in the existence of two supernatural powers (God and Satan), two worlds (heaven and hell) and two ages.

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