Jesus and Pilate

Film buffs may recall that In the film The Greatest Story Ever Told, Pontius Pilate was played by the actor Telly Savalas who may better  be remembered for his catchphrase  "Who Loves Ya Baby", and lollypop sucking  detective Kojak.

Pilate craftily washes his hands in deference to Jewish custom, to make sure he implicated the Jews in the death of Christ and absolve himself and the Romans, a move that was latched onto by so many others in our human history to justify horrific treatment of the Jews.

Maybe washing his hands was his own private insurance policy, against that sneaking feeling he had ( and alluded to by his wife's nagging warnings not to have anything to do with Jesus) that Jesus might be from a different world and would come back to judge him.

He is associated with that mesmorising  phrase he put to Jesus at his trial :

"What is Truth?"

Yes, it's hardly a surprise that Pilate had difficulty with the truth as do all politicians.

He never got an answer from Jesus then, but there was one waiting for him at the empty tomb on the third day after Jesus died.

An interesting website called Women in The Scriptures has information on Pilate's wife Claudia and the part she played in Holy Week. 

Click for article here on the eternal dilemmas and the modern day Pontius Pilate.

Click here for a useful review of the real Pontius Pilate from the BBC

Photo on left is from Saatchi Gallery : Pilate's Bucket and an edited description of the work from the artist Mia Orsag:

"Taking into account the Bible story of Pontius Pilate and his "deliberation" in deciding on the fate of another man, in this case of Jesus Christ, God's son, I decided to base the concept of this work beyond the real, in the realm of dreams.

In my opinion nightmare as such is one of the worst punishments, an omnipresent chase, one that is impossible to escape from.

In order to emphasize this subconscious, immaterial component, I have chosen a photograph as a medium to express my reasoning on Pilate's suffering.

The motive of the photograph is a view of Pilate's worst pains.

Pilate obviously suffered for the sin made by letting the people decide on Christ's fate. Failing to decide on his own and avoiding responsibility he committed the biggest sin towards himself.

He wanted to wash his hands of the consequences of his choice, let the choice to the people and thereby finally blotted his consciousness.

His nightmare is a paper bucket that does not hold water, and is even bottomless. It is empty inside, soiled with blood and hairballs, and tied up and caned from the outside.

This is a bucket intended for Pilate, whose biggest wish is to wash his hands."

The Last Supper : The Eucharist and Washing of the Feet

Image by mike52ad via Flickr

The Eucharist is a prayer of helplessness, a prayer for God to give us a unity we cannot give to ourselves.

It is not incidental that Jesus instituted it in the hour of his most intense loneliness, when he realized that all the words he had spoken hadn't been enough and that he had no more words to give.

When he felt most helpless, he gave us the prayer of helplessness, the Eucharist.
Our generation, like every generation before it, senses its helplessness and intuits its need for a messiah from beyond.
We cannot heal ourselves and we cannot find the key to overcome our wounds and divisions all on our own.
So we must turn our helplessness into a Eucharistic prayer, that asks God to come and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, namely, create community, and we must go to the Eucharist for this same reason.
(Extract from Ronald Rolheiser : Column Archive: the Healing Embrace of The Eucharist.)
Washing of The Feet 

 

Nearly The End of Lent : Still On The Road

It all began at Ash Wednesday  some 40 days ago.

At that first moment in my Lenten journey, I was reminded that, like Jesus, I too am on a journey with a definite ending, and that awareness has shaped me in positive ways.

Human death itself is just not that interesting.

It’s where every story ends, if you tell it long enough.

“What people do on the way to death—”, Jesus reminds me, “that’s what matters.”

The paradox is this: Yes, we are called to be at work for the Kingdom of God, and, like Jesus, we must be about our Father’s business. But we ought to pause in this short earthly life to listen to what God is telling us, because being in that silence can teach us everything.

The invitation to a holy Lent was our invitation to slow down, to look around, to invite God to move in our lives and in our world.

In the Roman Catholic Church, Lent officially ends at sundown on Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), with the beginning of the mass of the Lord's Supper.

So we are near the last part on the road to Palm Sunday then along the  road to the cross of Good Friday towards the Resurrection,and yes, still listening.

The Last Supper

I have been thinking about the chalice or Holy Grail used by Jesus at the Last Supper.

In the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the hero stands before rows of goblets and in a life-or-death moment must decide which one is the Holy Grail—the wine cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper.

Ignoring richly adorned chalices, Indiana Jones carefully lifts a plain vessel and says, 

"That’s the cup of a carpenter."

 ( Image left : Click on Image for larger version) 

I read this somewhere a long time ago:

Once, the Catholic Church had only wooden chalices but "golden " priests.

Now we have golden chalices and wooden priests !

(That is a tad unfair as I know there are many "golden priests" but it can seem like that sometimes.)

So to be more charitable let's  pray for priests !!

This is a link to one of the "golden ones", Fr. Austin at  Concord Pastor which has a Prayer for All Priests.

Also today at Whispers in the Loggia there are a couple of interesting posts :  a scoop video interview with Cardinal William Levada, the onetime Inquisition's current chief.

In a second post today, Rocco Palmer, the author of Whispers in the Loggia states:

"It wouldn't be sensationalistic nor unfair to expect something significant from the Pope at the one annual liturgy dedicated to the priesthood, this Priestly Year's theoretical climax: the Chrism Mass of Holy Thursday morning -- the day's one liturgy held in St Peter's, and the only Papal Mass at which all priests present concelebrate.

Has a pope ever resigned ? See this short video to find out........

Read more on link below about

What sort of chalice would Jesus have used at The Last Supper?

In Anticipation of Palm Sunday Meditation and Prayer

The crowds joyfully wave palms and lovingly welcome Jesus to Jerusalem in triumph.

In the days to come the tide will turn and these same crowds will want Him dead. 

"To be connected with the church is to be associated with scoundrels, warmongers, fakes, child-molesters, murderers, adulterers and hypocrites of every description. 

It also, at the same time, identifies you with saints and the finest persons of heroic soul of every time, country, race, and gender. 

To be a member of the church is to carry the mantle of both the worst sin and the finest heroism of soul because the church always looks exactly as it looked at the original crucifixion, God hung among thieves".  – Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing

Lord of the swaying palms,

the stones of earth and the beasts of burden bear witness to your coming:

lead us from the violence of empires and the collusion of crowds

to a heart of flesh, a world remade, and a new song for all creation,

through Jesus Christ, the Crucified One.  Amen.

Images by James Tissot

 PRAYER

Please give us the grace, loving God, to pray with our hearts as well as our lips, and to serve with our deeds as well as our prayers.

In places where the church celebrates with joy today, where it laughs with little children and praises with elderly saints, till hosannas overflow from every loving heart; may your kingdom come, And your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

In places where the church gathers in sorrow or fear today, weeping with Christ Jesus for the cross that must be carried in the face of misunderstanding and abuse; may your kingdom come.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In places where ordinary people are disillusioned with that greed and injustice that wants the poor and the weak blamed for the deprivations that afflict them; your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In places where people are at their wits end, angry or frustrated or frightened, ready to hit out violently at those around them, or falling into despair and planning to take their own lives; Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

In places where there are small hopes begging to be kept alive, programmes of compassion needing to be supported, and the beginnings of faith requiring recognition and encouragement; your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

God of Christ Jesus and our God, enable each of us to enter into fellowship with the Spirit of Christ, that our personal happiness and suffering may not be wasted, but dedicated to your infinite purposes which are often baffling but always loving. In Your name we pray. Amen!

In sunshine and shadow, in joy or grief, this is the day which the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it. We will step gratefully into this holy week;

We will tread softly for many things are already bruised;

We will go reverently for holiness is found in unlikely places;

We will walk lovingly for the love of the Crucified One is the key to all things on earth and in heaven. Amen!

– Text only is adapted from: Steven Shakespeare, Prayers for an Inclusive Church (Church Publishing, 2009), 91; Iona Community, Stages on the Way (GIA, 2000), 88; Bruce Prewer, Uniting Church of Australia.

Turn to Me

Two lovely hymns if you are afraid of confession !! ( a liitle background noise on firstand it may be a bit slower than the version some of us sing).

SOMETIMES IT'S BETTER TO LIGHT A CANDLE THAN TO CURSE THE DARKNESS!!

Michael Card Scribbling In the Sand

Cover via Amazon

Lyrics Below
Amidst a mob of madmen
She stood frightened and alone
As hate filled voices hissed at him
That she should now be stoned

But in the air around him
Hung a vast and wordless love
Who knows what loom at his lesson
He was in the middle of

At first he faced the fury
Of their self righteous scorn
But then he stooped and at once became
The calm eye of the storm

It was his wordless answer
To their dark and cruel demand
The lifetime in a moment
As he scribbled in the sand

It was silence it was music
It was art it was absurd
He stooped and shouted volumes
Without saying a single word

The same finger
Of the strong hand
That had written ten commands
For now was simply scribbling in the sand

Within the space of space and time
He scribbled in the sand
They cam e to hear and see as much
As they could understand
Now bound by cords of kindness
They couldn't cast a single stone
And Jesus and the women found that they were all alone

It was silence it was music
It was art it was absurd
He stooped and shouted volumes
Without saying a single word

The same finger
Of the strong hand
That had written ten commands
For now was simply scribbling in the sand

Could that same finger come
And trace my souls sacred sand
And make some unexpected space
Where I could understand
That my own condemnation pierced
And broke that gentle hand
That scratched the words I'll never know
Written in the sand

It was silence it was music
It was art it was absurd
He stooped and shouted volumes
Without saying a single word

The same finger
Of the strong hand
That had written ten commands
For now was simply scribbling in the sand

The same finger
Of the strong hand
That had written ten commands
For now was simply scribbling in the sand

Category: Music

Fifth Sunday of Lent 2011 Gospel Theme Casting Stones

The Gospel Reading for this 5th Sunday of Lent is the one that tells of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery.

 It asks us to question our own self righteousness when we are quick to condemn others, rather than bear the more complex and nuanced burden of justice with mercy.

Jesus confronts the pharisees with their own pompous sense of being in the right and their seeming blood lust and petty narrow closed- minded fundamentalist interpretation of the Law. They wanted  to carry out the death penalty by stoning the woman, which they technically had a right to do in Moses Law.

Some people use the parable to justify that there should not be a death penalty at all in Christian society.

“In the Gospel Jesus says let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Some people say that then to make sure they got the point Jesus wrote their sins on the ground. The stones fell from their hands and they fled. Jesus said: “neither do I condemn you, but He added, “Go and sin no more.” 

We don't know what he wrote in the sand. if  He could have simply been playing for time or perhaps the writing in sand was a challenge to their harsh interpretation of the old laws as if to say they were built on the sand of vengeance but his New Law was one based on compassion.

I have often longed to know what Jesus wrote but maybe my longing for written certainty and the lack of being provided with it is the whole point.

 For written laws are useless if they are not interpreted without mercy and compassion and these are things that can only come from being Christ-like, from the heart of the Holy Spirit and not from tablets of written law in hardened stone only.

 We all know that the letter of the law is nothing without being interpreted in the right spirit. Today we often use the phrase" Let he that is without sin be the first to cast a stone" in all the wrong ways just to justify really bad behaviour on our part and to try and let ourselves off the hook by bouncing this phrase back at the accusing person.

Using this phrase as reverse psychology to get back at someone who challenges us when we are in the wrong is a perverse distortion of the truth of what Christ was saying. 

It does not excuse a wrongdoing. In fact Jesus does tell the adulterous woman to "sin no more".

Here is an interesting take on the story from a Blog called The Rubicon.The last part of it is incomprehensible to me here in the UK as it refers to a whack of American TV presenters that I have never heard of but the early parts are well written.

Also here a link to The Wild Reed Blog with an excerpt from Fr. Rolheiser’s essay, “A Heart with One Room.”

Video Jesus in The Wilderness

Adam young set these illustrations by a British artist named Simon Smith to an Explosions In The Sky song. Nice meditation : only a few minutes long.

Return of the Prodigal Son

Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt.

Today in Cornwall the skies are clear blue with full sunshine and temperatures have actually reached double figures for once.

Could it be that Spring has at last arrived after three months of bitterly cold weather and grey cloudy skies?

I hope so.
The birds seem sprightlier than normal this morning and the trees wait for their nest building to begin soon.

This image brings to mind the sayings of Jesus that remind us of the costs involved if we are to follow Him :


As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”


 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Something to Read

 Some useful articles here have grabbed my attention today.

(Click on links in BLUE to take you to the full articles)


Joan Chittister, (OSB) in The Huffington Post writes recently on Catholicism: A Changing Church Despite Itself 


Then an older but still timely relevant one is this cover story entitled Spirituality  from 1994 in an interview in The Catholic Reporter with Fr. Richard Rohr (Franciscan). Ten pages long but full of pithy stuff.

Spirituality : Richard Rohr Interview

Creating Sabbath Space in Our Lives : Ronald Rolheiser

This clip is from a DVD featuring a 10-part video retreat that can be used for parish adult faith formation, small group faith sharing groups, or for private spiritual renewal. "Creating Sabbath Space in Our Lives"

Fourth Week of Lent Gospel Prodigal Son

Today's Gospel reading is the well known Parable of The Prodigal Son. This is a repost.

It first appeared on my blog for a Saturday Gospel Reading in the Second Week of Lent so  we can see how important the theme of forgiveness and reconcilaition is for Christ ...........

. aah yes, but there is one important thing that must happen first......... We have to change !!!

The themes of the parable are  Grief / Longing / Remorse / Forgiveness/ Reconciliation / Gratitude / Love.

We have all been there and will be many times in our lives !!

Perhaps poet and visionary T. S. Eliot best described the irony of an end being a beginning:


“We shall not cease from exploration/and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the very first time.”

What a feeling to be embraced again and to be in the arms of unconditional love, to be where we are accepted  and to discover that the end is actually the start of a new journey.

Inside Each Moment

Source unknown

Fruits of The Spirit

St Paul in The New Testament identifies the qualities that God wants to produce in our lives as fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Through relationship with God we can give to others and receive

Love Joy Peace Longsuffering Kindness Goodness Faithfulness Gentleness Self-Control In this parable of the fig tree Jesus was the infinitely patient vinedresser of our lives who wanted to cultivate the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. PRAYER  I pray that you will be patient with us. Give us your grace to grow and develop the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Open up our spiritual ears and let us be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Fertilise the barren ground in our spirit. Help us to bear more fruit !!

Third Sunday of Lent 2011: Gospel:The Parable of The Fig Tree and Commentary

 James Tissot

This Sunday's Gospel Reading is The Parable of the Fig Tree and there is good news for this one.

Another fig tree appears again later in Lent and it is not a happy ending for this tree.
( But that's a different story).

The fig tree in this parable gets off lightly !!

"There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener,‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig treebut have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’

He said to him in reply, Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

The Rev. John J. Pilch of Georgetown University has written of this parable:

"The Palestinian fig tree bears fruit ten months of the year, and so one can reasonably expect to find fruit at almost any time. The time sequence regarding fig trees is this: first, the tree would have three years to grow after planting. The fruit of the next three years is considered forbidden (see Lev 19:23). The fruit of the seventh year is considered clean and ought to be offered to the Lord (Lev 19:24).

The owner in this parable has come seeking fruit for three years, hence it is nine years since planting, and the situation begins to look hopeless. He rightly urges that it be rooted out, but the gardener urges “mercy,” give the tree yet another chance.

Keep in mind that the parable is not about trees but about the nation's leadership. The gardener's proposed remedy for the tree's problems reflects Jesus' mastery of “insult humour.”

Throughout the Gospels Jesus, the authentic Mediterranean native, resorts to insults on a regular basis, and they are always gems. The gardener might have proposed new soil for the tree, or increased watering.

Instead he proposed spreading manure on it. Jesus' original peasant audience undoubtedly roared with laughter. This is just what those #)%!@* leaders need!

Moreover, in Aramaic there is a wordplay between “dig it out” and “let it alone”.  Judgment = dig it out.  No, mercy and forgiveness = let it alone!

Beautiful figs

The tree cannot lift itself by its roots. The leaders need the intervention of an outsider, the gardener, Jesus himself!

Dedicated reformers are often so focused on the external evils to be exterminated that they neglect the need for personal reform as well.

This is as true of all of us as it is of leaders. This is the point Luke's Jesus makes in today's masterful cluster of readings.

The passage is beautifully appropriate to Lent. It needs no further comment.

Hat Tip to King of Peace for the above. 

 Do I view the trials in my life as opportunities for growth?
 Lord Jesus, help me to uproot sin in my life so that I might bear good  fruit.

Though the fig tree does not blossom
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the product of the olive fails
and the fields yield no food,
though the flock is cut off from the fold
and there are no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the victorious God
of my salvation!
The Lord God is my Strength. 

( Habbakuk)

Click here for another useful commentary and discussion

Take Nothing For The Journey

Mk 6:7-13 Today's Gospel Reading
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick – no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

March 2nd Gospel Reading and Reflection Pharisees

In today's Gospel Jesus gives a big warning to us about the Pharisees and defines their selfishness. Sadly we can all recognise the pharisee in ourselves too.

                                                        "Pharisees" by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff 1912

Image source

 Gospel

Mt 23:1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,

“The scribes and the Pharisees

have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.

Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,

but do not follow their example.

For they preach but they do not practice.

They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry

and lay them on people’s shoulders,

but they will not lift a finger to move them.

All their works are performed to be seen.

They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.

They love places of honour at banquets, seats of honour in synagogues,

greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’

As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’

You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.

Call no one on earth your father;

you have but one Father in heaven.

Do not be called ‘Master’;

you have but one master, the Christ.

The greatest among you must be your servant.

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;

but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Reflection

We all have egos that need strokes from time to time  but when our positions become bigger than God then we have to let go and take stock : It's not about me !!!

For some reason this poem attracted my attention after reading today's Gospel

I am not what I ought to be
I am not what I want to be
I am not what I hope to be
But by the grace of God
I am not what I was

John Newton

Leap Of Faith

 Jim Rennart : Image source

When you come to the end of all the light you know,

and it’s time to step into the darkness of the unknown,

faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen:

Either you will be given something solid to stand on or

you will be taught to fly.

Edward Teller