UKRAINE-IN LENT

 

Why is the subject of the Pieta so meaningful during Lent? It allows the viewer to enter into and experience the suffering of both Jesus and Mary. It reminds us that Jesus and Mary both knew first hand what it is to suffer. Their union is visible, they are still one despite the loss. This is how we should approach loss and suffering, as a way to bring people closer together. 

In this image we see Mary as the focus as she mourns over the corpse of Jesus. In some works she may have the body on her lap or in her arms. This is a counterpoint to the Madonna and Child. Mary never abandons herself to her grief; she retains her composure, her serenity.

The image is as surprisingly serene as it is heart-wrenching, but also invites feelings of hope and anticipation.

It is why we have been so concerned for and with the people of the Ukraine in their plight. This relationship teaches us that  suffering is not the end- the resurrection is.

 (Icon: Lyubov Yatskiv- Ukraine)

PIETA- UKRAINE

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has caused tens of thousands of deaths on both sides and instigated Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. To commemorate, we start Lent with the theme of PIETA, and illustrate with the oldest known image of the Pieta in the Ukraine.

This Pieta is a Mosaic in Holy Assumption Pechersk Lavra Cathedra, in  Kiev Ukraine. It is the oldest Ortordox Monastery in Ukraine and Russia, dating from 1051.

(Photos: William Perry)

When we think of the term “Pieta”, most of us automatically call to mind Michelangelo’s famous Pieta in the Vatican, but  this Lamentation is an ancient theme in Christian art.

The word Pieta means “Pity” or “Compassion,” and represents the Virgin Mary cradling the body of her Son Jesus in her arms as He is taken down from the Cross. The image is often so poignant that we are invited to meditate on this moment of tenderness and grief  with Mary who sorrowfully contemplates the dead body of her Son which she holds on her lap.

The ability to capture the physical suffering of Christ and the emotional suffering of Mary is a sorrowful scene, but one that gives the promise of hope and redemption.  We continue our prayers for the people of the Ukraine that their sufferings may soon end. May the strength and serenity of our Mother be with her people in these dark times, and may they soon know peace.

A BISHOP MOURNED

 

As we start into Lent a Community mourns the loss of their Bishop, The Most Reverend David O’Connell, Episcopal Vicar of the San Gabriel Pastoral Region. 

 In his statement, Archbishop Gomez said Bishop O'Connell will be remembered as “a man of deep prayer who had a great love for Our Blessed Mother.”

 "He was a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant, and he had a passion for building a community where the sanctity and dignity of every human life was honored and protected."

 "May Our Lady of Guadalupe wrap him in the mantle of her love, and may the angels lead him into paradise, and may he rest in peace."

THE WARMTH OF THE EUCHARIST

Having returned from Hawaii, just in time for Lent, I am reminded that we are in the middle of the three year Eucharistic Revival set forth by the bishops of our country to counteract the surprising fact that less than 40% of professed Catholics believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The poll was taken in 2019, just six months before the pandemic hit the world.  One wonders what the number of believers would be today?

                                          Sunrise over Mauna Kea- The Big Island  

Sitting in the warm Hawaiian sun which for me is so healing- having grown up in southern California, I suppose i have always been a sun "worshiper". Being back in the cold, damp Northwest, I long for warmer days, but know that the healing rays of Jesus in the Eucharist are far more effective that the brightest, warmest sun. The Eucharist nourishes, maintains and restores love in our soul. The Eucharist is the only way to keep our souls healthy. 

In receiving the Eucharist, we bring our helplessness and pains to Jesus, asking Him to touch our body and our hearts, to give us the strength we bear what we feel we cannot of ourselves. We ask Him to touch our woundedness, our weaknesses, our infidelities, our sin, and all that keeps us from a relationship with Him and His graces of joy and love.

This Lent I shall try to focus on all the graces daily given from receiving His Body and Blood, and pray for all who do not believe in  the healing warmth of His Presence.

TALKING IN HAWAII

 When I was growing up, we always had some species of talking bird, but the one I remember best, was Fagan, my Father's MYNA BIRD. In gleaning information about this species, it seems like the world would greatly  benefit if all mynas were kept in captivity, as much as I hate to see any species caged.

This bird, also known as the Common Myna or Indian Myna, is one of the three most invasive bird species in the world. (Starlings and red-vented bulbuls the other two).

Mynas pose a threat to biodiversity, agriculture, human interests and damage ecosystems. They out-compete native birds for food and nesting sites and they are aggressive, displacing other species.

In cities and urban areas they nest in gutters and drainpipes, causing damage to building exteriors.

This species of myna so common in Hawaii, is a native of India and Pakistan and a member of the starling family. I find them a handsome bird with the yellow patch behind the eye and yellow legs. They are gregarious and pair for life.

But the most interesting thing about them is perhaps their ability to reproduce sounds, including human  speech when in captivity. They are very intelligent birds and can learn up to 100 words. They are only 2nd to the gray parrot in copying human speech. As  my Mother found with her talking birds, it takes repetition and patience- a lot of patience.

HAWAII'S ELEGANT PREDATOR

 As much as I love to see the stark white CATTLE EGRETS with their livestock, as we drive by the vast green pasture lands of the Big island, I read they are nest predators, stealing eggs and chicks of native birds, namely the Hawaiian duck (Koloa), Hawaiian stilt (Aeo), Hawaiian moorhen (Alae ula), and Hawaiian  coot (Alae Keokeo).

Yes, they do keep the flies, ticks and insects down, but there is more to the story. The egret, native of Africa and Asia, were introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in 1959 by the Board of Agriculture and Forestry, in conjunction with local cattle ranchers to try and combat flies that were affecting cattle herds. Flies were responsible for low weight gain in the cattle as well as damaged hides.

The original intent was to use the birds as biological control agents, but instead these birds have joined the long list of introduced species, that having failed their original objective, have caused a bigger problem, ie. disruption to indigenous fauna.

Since 2017 the cattle egrets have been culled, and while this elegant bird provides a service to the livestock, its relationship to endemic species remains problematic.

As we drive we can see the elegant birds with the dark cattle, by the dozens, and sometimes they are seen on the back of horses, donkeys, goats, and even sheared sheep.

PINK BILL

 

This morning while walking in the garden, I spotted two  birds I knew but had not seen in almost 60 years. The  JAVA SPARROW is another one of those birds whose name does not denote the species. It is actually a finch, not a sparrow, and what immediately  draws ones eyes to the bird is the bright pink bill. There is also a distinctive white cheek patch on the black head.

Another name for this bird is Java Rice Bird, as it does comes from Java (and Bali) and lives in the rice fields. They are also found in grasslands, meadows and urban areas.

While native to far realms of the world, it can now be found everywhere, as it has been  favorite cage bird, which of course escapes into the wilds. In the USA, they are found in Hawaii.

This bird is another example of those estrildid finches (remember that word from the African Silverbill?) and while seemingly small, it may be the largest species in the estrildid family.

It is known to be a gregarious bird, usually in flocks, but what I am seeing here now, is mating season, hence many birds in pairs.

These birds have appeared in Chinese art from Ming Dynasty and 17th Century Japan. Unfortunately, they have been considered an agriculture pest due to rice cultivation in far east, so have been hunted and eradicated and are now considered a critically endangered species, with about 10,000 left.  I was most fortunate to see them again!

Japanese print- Hokusai (1760-1849)