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Divine Mercy Sunday – 2nd Sunday of Easter

Our week began with news of the death of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, known to us as Pope Francis.

I had just seen, on the television news, the Pope being driven through the gathered crowds in St Peter’s Square.

He did not look at all well.

At one point, the vehicle stopped, and a small child was presented to Pope Francis.

Raising his left hand towards the crying boy, this is the moment Pope Francis gave his last public blessing as he drove through St Peter’s Square for the last time.

Footage of the brief exchange is now deeply poignant following the pontiff’s death.

That is the last image and memory of the Pope alive.

The aged blessing the new, somewhat as a relay runner handing over a baton, “It is your turn now!”

Other memories I have include: Barely two weeks after his election, at the Chrism Mass in March 2013, Pope Francis told the gathered clergy to take on “the smell of the sheep”, being pastors close to the people, rather than administrators governing from a stale, cold office.

On his return flight from his visit to Brazil in 2013, Pope Francis raised eyebrows when, in a response to a question on homosexual clergy, he said, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

For many, it was a shocking statement from the leader of a global institution still largely considered to be homophobic by significant portions of society, and where many homosexual individuals have struggled to find welcome and acceptance.

Another image I have is of Pope Francis as he twirls a soccer ball he was presented by a member of the Circus of Cuba, during his weekly general audience at beginning of 2019.

The smile on the Pope’s face is one of sheer delight.

Another memory I have of Pope Francis is his image of the Church as a “field hospital”. “The thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the of the faithful hearts; it needs nearness, proximity.”

This may provide us with the Pope’s entire vision for the Church’s and its pastors’ role in the world.

As recently as Holy Thursday last year, the pope celebrated the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Rome’s Rebibbia Prison.

The Pope poured water over the feet of 12 women inmates, dried them with a towel and kissed their feet.

The pope, who had difficulty walking, washed their feet while seated in his wheelchair.

Today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. As we remember Pope Francis, may we” live this day compassionate of heart, clear in word, gracious in awareness, courageous in thought and generous in love.” (John O’Donohue)

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Easter Sunday

The illustration is of the Anastasis fresco, c. 1316 – 1321, Chora Church, Istanbul, Turkey.

The common Western image of the Resurrection shows Christ as a triumphant yet singular figure.

This figure is surrounded by bright light, is sometimes semi-naked, and dressed in white.

If other humans are present at all, it is often as guards lying asleep by the tomb or in some way falling away from and shielding their eyes from the spectacle.

In Western Christian iconography, Christ is ‘going up’.

An example is a triptych painting of The Resurrection of Christ, which Peter Paul Rubens completed between 1611 and 1612 and is currently housed in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp.

The iconography of the Eastern (Orthodox) church has Christ ‘going down.’

The familiar Eastern icon of the anastasis shows Christ breaching the gates of hell, generally with two long, broken gates lying in the shape of a cross and a personified Hades or Satan lying conquered under his feet.

The key element in this icon is Christ firmly grasping Adam and Eve’s wrists and pulling them up toward him.

As Jesus is risen, so are those fundamental flaws that hold us bound.

The Resurrection of Jesus is not a singular event, and its sole focus is on the person of Jesus. Instead, it is an ‘us’ event, as we pray:

Dying you destroyed our death,
Rising you restored our life,
Lord Jesus, come in glory.

Take note as you pray the Apostles Creed next time. We pray, “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead . . .”

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Palm Sunday

Murder on the Orient Express is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The book was first published in January 1934.

There have been four film adaptations.

The 2017 screen adaptation featured such well-known names as Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh and Johnny Depp.

The film begins with a young boy running helter-skelter through an awakening city. The boy carries a collection of chicken eggs for the chef to choose two.

The eggs are boiled and presented to Monsieur Hercules Poirot for his breakfast.

The young boy is not seen again, most of the film happening on a train. In the cast credits, he is simply named a ‘young boy. ‘

Like many others, known as ‘extras’ their presence is necessary for the film to be produced.

They are known as ‘uncredited’

When one reads the entire cast, one is faced with the fact that there at least 59 uncredited persons were in the cast!

They are necessary to the film, so necessary that nobody notices.

The illustration is of a mosaic of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The mosaic is found in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Since 2013, Italian restorationists have been working in a mammoth effort to restore the mosaics present in the Church. Mosaics in the Church date back to the 4thC, AD.

Today, in our liturgy for Palm Sunday, I invite you to notice an ‘uncredited’ cast member – the donkey!

“Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it . . . .” (Jn. 12:14)

All four of the Gospels record the same event, (Lk. 19: 35, Mt. 21:7, Mk. 11:7).

It is not the first occasion Jesus has been on a donkey!

While there is no Scriptural evidence, I invite you to cast your mind back to those Christmas cards you send and receive each year.

Many include a portrait of Mary and Joseph making the journey to Bethlehem and Mary is sitting astride a donkey. And Mary is pregnant.

The Gospel of Matthew also tells the story of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt (Mt. 2: 13- 23).

Again, without Scriptural evidence, artists throughout the generations have pictured this ‘flight’ with Mary and the newborn Jesus sitting on a donkey and being led by Joseph.

Uncredited and yet essential – the donkey!

The one who carries the Word made flesh!

As companions of Jesus, that is our call also – to be uncredited and yet essential carriers of the Word!

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5th Sunday of Lent

Pope Francis visited Brazil from the 22 – 29 July 2013.

While returning to Rome aboard the papal plane, Pope Francis engaged in a remarkable candid dialogue with journalists.

He took questions from reporters traveling aboard the papal plane for a full hour and 21 minutes with no filters or limits and nothing off the record.

Pope Francis stood for the entire time, answering without notes and never refusing to take a question.

The final query was an incredibly delicate one about charges of homosexual conduct against his recently appointed delegate to reform the Vatican bank, and not only did Francis answer, but he thanked reporters for the question.

The Pope’s response reverberated throughout the whole world.

People rubbed their ears and asked themselves or others, ‘Did I hear right?’

Pope Francis words were, “Who am I to judge them if they’re seeking the Lord in good faith?” “Who am I to judge them?”

Today’s Gospel (Jn. 8:1 -11) is prefaced in the Gospel I use with the heading, ‘The Woman Caught in Adultery’, and every Bible I could lay my hands on at the time had the same heading!

However, let us be clear about one important point right from the start: this story is not about adultery!

When we know something of the culture in which Jesus lived, our understanding is broadened.

At the time of Jesus, men were allowed multiple wives, and women were regarded as property.

This story is about retaining ‘my property’.

In our world and social norms, we regard adultery as sexual almost exclusively.

In the culture of Jesus, it is about property rights!

This Gospel is not about adultery!

It is about men, using, judging and condemning women.

Little of that has changed!

This Gospel is not about adultery!

It is about finger-pointing, and, as I have said more than once, “to point a finger at another one needs to point three at oneself.”

“Let anyone without sin cast the first stone.”

We read of a gospel riddled with the unacceptable, the suspect, the devious and the weak — for the lepers and the Samaritans and the women.

We read of Jesus with thieves, of Jesus with tax collectors, of Jesus with sinners.

“Who am I to judge?”

“Let anyone without sin cast the first stone!”