Faith

The last of the hyper theses really tests the endurance of a disciple, for the challenge it poses is felt in our everyday life. “Love your enemies” seems like a winning statement for the Nobel Peace prize and yet those who have advocated it have been assassinated and put to death; Christ, Martin Luther, Gandhi to name a few. It is interesting that world leaders winning the Nobel Peace prize call for peace, never for love. Peace without love is a truce ready to crumble.

Yet the message advocated by Jesus to Christians is not some hopeless idealism. Remember that the hyper theses taught by Jesus, were a way to challenge the disciple towards ‘being more’ and ‘giving more’ as well as a strategy for overcoming the persecutor. Christ is not calling the disciple to “an introverted aggression but an aggression transmitted into a strategy for winning through the wisdom of love. (JBC)

In presenting the last of these six hyper theses, Jesus is also contesting the false and twisted teaching of the Pharisees and Scribes. It is for this reason that He begins by saying, “you have heard it was said.” It was the Scribes and Pharisees who took the Divine law of ‘love your neighbour’ (Lev 19:18), dropped the words ‘as yourself’ and added their own non biblical words, “and hate your enemy.” Clearly the blasphemers were the ‘teachers’ of the law themselves.

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Faith

Yeh dil maange more! Monday – 11th week in Ordinary time- Matthew 5: 38-42

This is a tough one. The last two hyper theses of Jesus are absolutely radical. But because they are difficult to practice it does not make them impossible to live. The lex talionis ‘an eye for an eye’, may sound barbaric in today’s context. However, to a first century citizen it was the law of proportionate response and ensured that justice was proportionate to the offense.  It was not a measure of revenge but a law to prevent revenge.

Found in Exodus 21:22-25 and Deuteronomy 19:21, this Jewish law which regulated revenge was shared by civilizations and dynasties in similar thought. The Romans had it in Law of 12 tables and 8 and the same was found in the code of Hammurabi.

For Jesus, the disciple is a citizen of heaven and so more is demanded.  Forfeiting ones right to an equitable and proportionate response in the face of hatred, Jesus asks his disciples to be different from the citizens of the earth. But does that make a Christian a doormat?

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Art/ Heritage

BEHOLD THE ANGELIC BREAD! – The Glorious Monstrance

The word Eucharist comes from the Greek word ‘eukharistos’ meaning ‘thanksgiving’. It denotes the sacrament (bread/wine professed as the Body and Blood of Christ) and the sacrifice of the Mass. Outside the Mass, the Eucharist is housed in a sacred vessel called the Monstrance. This sacred vessel holds its own history and story.

The etymology of the word Monstrance can be traced to its Latin counterpart Ostensorium. It is derived from the Latin word ostendere meaning ‘to show/display’. Before being used in the Church, these vessels served as objects of exhibition. They were employed by goldsmiths and silversmiths to display their works of art and commerce.

Primeval references affirm the use of a portable tabernacle for adoration, benediction and processions. This came to be replaced by the ciborium wherein the sides of the cup were prolonged in crystal or glass. It served as a receptacle to carry the Sacred Host and distribute Holy Communion.

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Faith

Pinky promise- Saturday- 10th Week in ordinary time-Matthew 5: 33-37

At the heart of these six hyper theses is the desire of Jesus to restore the law of the kingdom of God. This law had been distorted by the Scribes and Pharisees and that is why Jesus begins this pericope by saying, “and again you have heard that it was said to you.” In saying this He is directly challenging the authority of the Scribes and Pharisees and clarifying the intended law of God.

What is at stake in the fourth hyper theses is the issue of oaths or vows. Principally, the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments say nothing about swearing of oaths or vows. What it does say is that God’s name must not be taken in vain and that one should not bear false witness. So it was the Pharisees who carried out this personalized agenda of promoting the notion of oaths and vows, and that too in an unethical fashion.

Matthew 23: 16- 19 gives us a better insight into the mind of the Jewish leaders on the matter of oaths. For the Jewish authorities, the importance of an oath was measured by the value of what it was sworn by. So for the Scribes and Pharisees, if you swear by the temple, it counts for nothing; however if you swear by the gold of the temple then you are bound.

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Faith

Don’t Look, Don’t touch! – Friday- 10th Week in ordinary time-Matthew 5: 27-32

The gospel passage of today will take up the second and third hyper-theses in the Sermon on the Mount. (Refer to http://www.pottypadre.com/heart-of-the-matter/) These are linked to the ninth commandment which deals with the aspect of adultery and divorce.

The mission of Jesus was to bring about a kingdom of righteousness and justice and that is why He wants His disciple’s righteousness to exceed that of the self-righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes. That Jesus has exposed the self-serving interpretation of the Jewish leaders, has been reason enough for them to want to poison the minds of the people and even more to kill Him.

These hyper-theses of Jesus are really the fleshing out of His mandate for the disciples, in the context of living out the law in the kingdom. Jesus wants more from the disciples, more from us. He is not asking; He is demanding it from those who chose freely to be His disciples. Remember He says, “If you wish to be my disciple.”

Jesus wants His disciples to think beyond the ninth commandment. He wants them to understand that lust kills love. But hang on, lust gets to all of us at some stage in our life and the question you might ask yourself is ‘will I therefore go to hell?’

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