Fr Peter's newsletter notes - April 2004

Holy Week - Sunday 4th April 2004

Many Catholics attending Mass will, through watching Mel Gibson's film, listen to the Passion being read this Sunday with a new perspective. Some, I know, have been overawed by the film, both spiritually and emotionally, others have found the violence too much, but most Catholics who have seen the film will have gleaned new insights into the painful journey to Calvary. The film sits in a long line of authentic and inspired interpretations of the events surrounding the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Mel Gibson's film has made me look once again at the different Passion accounts in the Gospels. Obviously they are about fundamentally the same events, but each evangelist emphasises particular themes that colour the whole narrative.

This year the Church reads St Luke's account of the Passion on Palm Sunday, and many of the best-known features in his account. The first is the role of the devil, who has come back at the appointed hour, something prophesised during Jesus' temptation in the desert at the beginning of His public life. The devil has now entered the mind of Judas, and so the Passion is seen as the climax of a battle between good and evil. The Jewish leaders and the Romans are the willing accomplices in the drama, but Jesus prays that Peter will not succumb. At the Last Supper despite the treachery and denials, there is already a note of future victory. This note makes the ending of Luke's account, the statement of the angel, 'He is not here, he is risen' very different to Mark's ending with the silent and frightened women on Easter morning.

St Luke is the only Evangelist to remember the specific connection between Jesus and the Suffering Servant, when Jesus at the end of the Last Supper tells His disciples that the end is fast coming and that 'He was classed even with outlaws. Later Luke will uniquely quote the conversation with the criminals on Calvary, and Jesus' promise to one that 'Today you will be with me in paradise'. The suffering servant is the one who carries the sins for the many, and right up to His final moments of agony on the Cross, Jesus shows His great love for the repentant sinners of the world. This 'man for others' who offers an endless stream of mercy is the one to comfort the women of Jerusalem, and to gather the nascent community at the foot of the Cross. With His eyes to the future His death will a 'martyrdom' to be imitated by His later followers, Stephen in Acts of the Apostles being one of the first. It is a martyrdom all His followers will have to undergo, to put aside personal needs and to become the 'one for others'. The 'one for others' has ultimately only God for his or her rock, but God will remain forever faithful, and so it becomes possible to glimpse the dawn of hope amidst the turmoil, stress and obligations of the everyday.

Third Week of Easter - Sunday 25th April 2004

Last Friday the Catholic Church in this country has been celebrating the Feast of St George, Patron Saint of England. That learned but cautious work, the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, concludes that St George is most likely to have existed, which for a Catholic means he most certainly existed. Tradition ascribes his death taking place at Lydda in the Holy Land. He was a Roman soldier who was martyred for his faith in the 330s. Little is known about his life, but he is one of that large number of Roman soldiers who when confronted with the need to worship the Emperor, chose the path of martyrdom. There has been a church dedicated to his name since the 8th century in this country, but it was not till the Synod of Oxford in 1222 that St George was incorporated into the lists of saints to be commemorated in England. Later, in the 14th century the red cross with white background became a military uniform under the inspiration of King Edward III, who had established the Order of the Garter under the patronage of St George. In 1415 Archbishop Chichele made St George one of the major feasts of the English calendar.

It is one of those quirks of history that has made a Palestinian Christian martyr the Patron Saint of England, and this is a long way in time, place and sentiment from the theft of St George by unsavoury political groupings in this country. Every martyr is a witness to that basic identification of the risen Christ with the believer, which Paul grasped many years after his conversion on the road to Damascus. 'Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?' This divine identification, 'Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?' is the inner meaning to the image of the Church as the Body of Christ. It also helps us understand the unavoidable conflict between believer and world. It is not that the believer goes out to look for trouble, as if he were some sort of 'spiritual yob'. It is just that at some critical moment in all our lives we will have to give witness, and our conscience will always tell us when we have flunked the moment. The restriction of the term 'martyr' to those who have shed their blood for Christ and His Church, should not blind us to the fact that giving witness is a lifelong occupation, and though it possesses its critical moments, is a lifetime struggle.

The struggles of crusader knights under the patronage of St George, to re-establish a Christian kingdom in the Holy Land is not the most credible moment in our islands' history, nor is the daily danger of being run over by white van man with his St George's flag blocking the back window, the same as being a witness to the truth. St George did replace St Edward the Confessor as Patron of England, and some have wished to return to that earlier dispensation. However St George is good enough for me, because he will, like every martyr, be a constant reminder that at least once we should stick up for the truth of our faith whatever the cost.

The First Readings, Holy Week, Year C, Cycle II

The reading begins with the presentation of a new servant to 'the court' by God. This servant will carry the Spirit upon him, and his method of preaching will not involve breaking the bruised reed, nor quench the wavering flax. Instead he will bring forth the fruits of a new justice. This mission will have the veritable stamp of God upon it. This suffering servant, as later tradition has defined him, is the person of Jesus Christ who Himself is the justice of God, and who is the one to bring life to the downtrodden peoples of the world. (Monday)

The servant, Jesus Christ, seems to have laboured in vain and those last days in Jerusalem with their constant threat of violence would only confirm such an impression. Yet the labour has not been and will not be in vain, because the giving of the reward is in God's hand. This solid confidence in the Lord is due to the servant's calling from the moment of his conception, and so it was with Jesus whose very name, 'God saves' unites His person and His mission. (Tuesday)

This passage of Isaiah is the Third Servant Song and tells us that everything that happens to the Servant has been 'explained' by the Lord, so despite the suffering the servant remains confident because God is faithful to him in the midst of his torment. The ears of the servant have been opened to hear the travails of the world and so through both intuition and personal experience he can comfort the weary and the weak whilst on his own road of suffering. (Wednesday)

The Readings from the Acts of the Apostles, Third Week of Easter, Year C, Cycle II

Stephen has been introduced as one of the newly appointed leaders to minister to the Hellenistic Jews. He is described in the same terms as Jesus, and who likewise generates a divided response. the religious authorities have once again to resort to false witnesses for the charge of blasphemy since they were unable to stand up to his spirit-filled wisdom. (Monday)

The account is now taken up towards the end of Stephen's epic sermon on salvation history. This history has largely been met with unbelief and the persecution of the prophets, rather than an opening to the Holy Spirit. The final act of Stephen is to cry out that he has glimpsed the Son of Man within the glory of God. This act of blasphemy leads to his stoning, all done with the express approval of Saul. (Tuesday)

The death of Stephen marks the end of the exclusive Jerusalem ministry. The dispersal of the apostles and disciples is not some historical accident but part of the risen Jesus' predetermined plan for the evangelisation of all the nations, starting with Judea and Samaria. (Wednesday)

Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch is the first moment of the worldwide mission. The questions, posed by the Ethiopian as to the meaning of the Scriptures, are answered by the spirit-filled evangelist, but the last act is not thanks for knowledge gained but the submission to the rite of baptism. All religious quests find their spiritual and human fulfilment in the incorporation into the Church. (Thursday)

The story of Paul's conversion is well known. Tradition has him falling off his horse, so that he can get up again and be led to Damascus. The voice from the clouds, 'why are you persecuting me' identifies the risen Jesus with His disciples. This identification will later make Paul understand the Church as 'the Body of Christ', and the sole source of justification. (Friday)