Faith

Who does He think He is? – Matthew 13: 54- 58 (Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest)

Matthew’s community was no stranger to rejection. The times that they lived in were marred by bitter hostility between the Jews and the followers of Christ who still clung on to their Jewish roots. The rejection by Matthew’s community was sealed with the pronouncement of the ‘birtkat ha minin’, a Jewish curse on heretics (minim) which also include Jewish Christians

Turned away from the synagogues they once prayed in, the followers of Christ most certainly found comfort and solace in the narration of Jesus’ own rejection in today’s Gospel. Yet the positioning of the Gospel is itself confusing.

Perhaps what perplexes us is why did Matthew place this Gospel at the end of the parable discourse? It seems a bit odd for the evangelist to end a series of powerful teachings on the kingdom with the rejection of Jesus. Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that the Gospels were originally written in continuous format; there were no chapters and verse. It was Robert Estienne who in 1551 introduced the numbering of verses within each chapter. The rejection of Jesus would read better if it was part of Chapter 14.

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Faith

 When parables come alive- Thursday, 17th week in ordinary time – Matthew 14: 47- 53

There are two ways to approach today’s Gospel – with fire and brimstone for others, or with introspection for myself.  Let me choose the latter, not because I am afraid to play the ‘fist thumping preacher’, but because that method may be effective till one reaches the doors of the Church.

The seventh and last parable of chapter thirteen mirrors the second parable, the wheat and the darnel. Both parables draw their imagery from every day Palestinian occupations, namely farming and fishing. Both parables deal with eschatology or the end times. Both parables end with God’s reapers or angels who weed out the evil and sort out the good. The kingdom is not insulated from attack. We could either be attacked by Satan who plants evil, or we could be attacked from within; everyday people around us are plotting destruction! 

There is no getting away from the reality of these parables as a whole. The seven parables allegorically attempt to cover the reality of the kingdom of heaven.  It is a kingdom whose reality includes attack, search, temptation, and judgement. The kingdom is not all hunky dory and fearful as the closing parable may seem; it is not merely a parable of doom.

So what then is this parable about? Dragnets, as their name suggest were fishing nets which were dragged along the bed of the sea and in its wake, picked up everything. Made of flax cords, they were equipped with lead weights at the bottom and wooden floats at the top. In mentioning specifically the type of net, Jesus was telling us that the kingdom is not a place where people are picked and chosen; the kingdom comprises of all sorts. We don’t get to choose the people we want to live with in the world.   

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Faith

Dime or Dollar? Wednesday, 17th week in ordinary time- Matthew 13: 44- 46

Today’s reading allegorically fits in beautifully with fidelity in a relationship. For the kingdom of heaven is like the spouse one clings to, forsaking all others, having realized the worth and the value of the loved one.

The Gospel of today is a meditation; not only on the kingdom but also the subjects of the kingdom. Jesus uses two examples to make a point. He compares the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hidden in a field which a man finds, and to a pearl of great price that a man seeks passionately.

In one case the kingdom is stumbled upon and in the other, it is actively sought. In either case, the person having found it, realizes the great value at hand and then does the next obvious thing; even if that would involve a great deal of inconvenience.

Palestine was a hot bed for civil and political unrest. Its geographical location made it the default route to be taken, if you were marching to war against one of the great empires that surrounded this tiny nation. War would bring plunder, and the best safe deposit vault was a natural one; dig a hole and hide it in the earth.

But wars also had the ability to change the landscape. ‘X’ no longer marked the spot, for ‘X’ could have been a tree that was uprooted as a consequence of the war and with it, the location lost forever; that until someone came digging.

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Faith

Heaven bound – Tuesday, 17th week in ordinary time- Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori – Matthew 13: 36-43

Any community of faith does not live in isolation; it lives within the world where corruption does attempt to make its home among believers. Often we see such elements within the Church, elements that cause scandal among believers, leaving believers wondering why God permits such happenings.

We would all like a perfect world but that is not how reality plays out. There are weeds and wheat in the kingdom of God and often the darnel (weeds) looks exactly like the wheat. Sure we would like to weed out the rot but then there is always a risk that the wheat might also be uprooted. Should collateral damage be ok in the Church? Can a few good Christians take a hit if the larger majority of sinners can be eradicated?

Jesus’ solution is one of wait and watch; He advocates patience, tolerance and forbearance for the kingdom of God is a mixed bag of saints and sinner on earth. While some on earth may live in the delusion that the corruption of death is a far way calling, the reality is that death comes like a thief in the night. The justice of God exists but not in our time, in His time.

Jesus, in explaining this parable to the disciples is making a point; that divine judgment will  be delivered but that judgment is His to make and not for us to usurp. Often, members of the Church feel compelled to eradicate, what seems to the human mind, as a sinful brother or sister. Gathering in and weeding out the sinners of the world is not ours; that is for the reapers or His angelic agents as in the parable of the dragnet.

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Art/ Heritage

FROM TREASURE TROVE TO TREASURE TRUTH: ‘The Parable of the Hidden Treasure’ by Rembrandt

One of the greatest storytellers in the history of art is Rembrandt Van Rijn. Born in Leiden in Netherlands in 1606, he had a unique, uncompromising, innovative ability to portray reality in various moods. He worked on a range of subject matters including portraits, self portraits, landscapes and genre scenes as well as allegorical, mythological, historical and Biblical themes.

Rembrandt penetrates to the heart of the subject. This is best understood through today’s painting in consideration. The narrative is taken from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verse 44. It reads: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. The man, who finds it, buries it again; and so happy is he that he goes and sells everything he has, so that he may buy that field.’

The painting is divided into two sections; the background and the foreground. The panoramic view of the vast landscape, silhouettes of mountain ranges, barren hills, stark vegetation and a city afar draws us to the figure of a man who gazes beyond the horizon in contemplation and determination. He gapes not at the priceless treasure of ornate antiques laid before him. He has past the point of thrilled elation. Rather he seems to grasp reality with a vivid understanding of THIS IS IT! He has found the hidden treasure he longed for! He resolves to sell everything he has so that he can buy the field.

But is Rembrandt content with portraying just the narrative? Does he want to express something beyond the lens of his brush? The answer lies in the location. The top corner of the painting displays the city gate. This clearly indicates that the field is not situated in the town, but at its outskirts. And the hidden treasure in found not in an excavated hollow rather within the cavern of a little mount.

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