THE FACE OF THE SUFFERING CHRIST- HOLY WEEK MEDITATION- TUESDAY

 

"We cannot come to the full contemplation of the Lord's face by our own efforts alone, but by allowing grace to take us by the hand" (Novo Millennio ineunte, n. 20). John Paul II

Through the ages both East and West have both retained the desire to express the face of Christ in art. But the East has been better able to preserve the tradition in icons, which for many is a form of prayer and of worship. Yet when I checked for more modern images, I found most from Western artists.  Each day this week I will present some of these striking works of art with a short meditation.

 The face of  the suffering Jesus is the face of all suffering mankind. In His face we see our limitations and even our own deaths taken away.

"The Church is called to reflect His Face, the face of Christ Teacher, Prophet, Priest and King, in order that we can say of her in relation to Christ what Christ said of Himself in relation to the Father:  "He who has seen Me, has seen the Father" (Jn 14,9). 

The basic mission of the Church is to be the transparence of Christ and of His face. Human beings have the inalienable right to be able to see the face of the Lord in the face of the Church, in order that in her and through her they can see and contemplate Him."

Bishop Rino Fisichella  Reflections on the Holy Father’s Apostolic Letter ‘Novo Millennio ineunte’ -  L'Osservatore Romano

Images:  Top - Fra Angelico, 1438  - Italy

              Bottom -  Joan Gasco- 1513- Spain 

 

THE WOUND IN THE SIDE

 

The final wound was in the side of Jesus' chest, where, according to the New Testament, His body was pierced by the Lance of Longinus in order to be sure that He was dead. The Gospel of John states that blood and water poured out of this wound (John 19:34). Although the Gospels do not specify on which side He was wounded, it is conventionally shown in art as being on Jesus' right side, though some depictions, show it on the left.

 

The fact that both water and blood came out demonstrates the extreme stress and trauma He was under. It was so intense that it brought about a condition known as pericardial effusion. This is where fluid builds around the heart and can be fatal.  It is often said that this event shows that Jesus died of a broken heart.

 The blood and water show us two important aspects of the Lord’s death: the redemptive aspect (blood) and the life-imparting aspect (water).

Because Jesus shed His blood to accomplish redemption for us, we can be forgiven and cleansed of all our sins. 

It is clear by historical and medical evidence that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right ribs, probably perforated not only the right lung but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured his death. 

If the spear pierced through the outer pericardium wall and into the heart, then the watery fluid and blood could have poured out through the wound. It emphasizes the reality of Christ's death and His very humanity. The idea of the Resurrection was very important to the early Christian community. Paul specifically wrote: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." (1 Corinthians 15:17) 

The blood and water signify two important matters: redemption (blood) and the imparting of life (water). Jesus' redeeming death accomplished  redemption for us, giving us the forgiveness and washing away of our sins that we might have life.  As we are cleansed by His blood, we can receive more of the divine life by drinking of Him, the fountain of life.

After the resurrection, Jesus invited Thomas “the doubter” to put his hand also into His side saying, “Reach your finger here…and put it into My side…” (John 20:27). This final piercing of Jesus showed the state of His heart. 

"If you desire further proof of the power of this blood, remember where it came from, how it ran down from the cross, flowing from the Master’s side. The gospel records that when Christ was dead, but still hung on the cross, a soldier came and pierced His side with a lance and immediately there poured out water and blood. Now the water was a symbol of baptism and the blood of the holy Eucharist. The soldier pierced the Lord’s side, he breached the wall of the sacred temple, and I have found the treasure and made it my own. So also with the lamb: the Jews sacrificed the victim and I have been saved by it."

                                                           From the Catecheses by St. John Chrysostom , bishop 

WOMEN IN WAR MEET CHRIST

 

 

As women continue to bear the burdens of war in the Ukraine, they know that nothing will be the same, but in spite of the hardships, these women are  brave and resilient. These are ordinary women performing profound acts of bravery in the face of adversity. And they’re all doing it with dignity

 "It is not normal to have this life, we are peaceful people. I've only heard of war from my grandparents. We live in the 21st century. We were developing, we were studying," says one young woman.

This war- like all wars- is also putting women and girls at a grave risk of violence, exploitation and abuse as they are displaced and now we hear of the bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol and the mass execution of civilians in Bucha.

An estimated 80,000 women will  have given birth in the first three months in the war– many of them without access to critical maternal health care, and for many childbirth will be a life-threatening rather than a life-changing experience.

“When we resort to violence, we show that we no longer know anything about God, who is our Father, or even about others, who are our brothers and sisters.

 We see this in the folly of war, where Christ is crucified yet another time. Christ is once more nailed to the Cross in mothers who mourn the unjust death of husbands and sons. He is crucified in refugees who flee from bombs with children in their arms. He is crucified in the elderly left alone to die; in young people deprived of a future; in soldiers sent to kill their brothers and sisters.

 ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”    (Pope Francis , Palm Sunday 2022)

This week as we go through the journey with Jesus as He heads to His earthly end, let us remember His prayer to the women He met along the way: Weep not for Me but weep for yourselves and your children.

Station of the Cross: Felicity Prazak- USA

ABORIGINAL STATIONS

As we enter Holy Week, I ponder some unusual Stations of the Cross  from Australia, imagined, dreamed and painted by JOHN DUNN, an Olkola/ Djabaguy man from Far North Queensland.

 Along the seven-metre length, four journey tracks interweave: two undulating aboriginal tracks which integrate the aboriginal story with Christ’s own Way of the Cross and, along the top and bottom, tracks made of thorny branches which speak of colonization and its impact on the Aboriginal community.

 The Passion of Christ resonates deeply with Aboriginal people who identify readily with his innocent suffering. Artist John Dunn himself was caught up in the pain of the stolen generation. He did not find his family until he was in his 40s, after many years of searching.

 The process of painting this story was for him a personal discovery of his Aboriginality and his own hurt and isolation; the journey led him to peace and a healing of his spirit. All Aboriginal people recognize themselves in his struggle and in his emergence at the end, strengthened by a new hope.

 This set of Stations of the Cross was commissioned by the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry of Victoria in 2017 and are arranged along the main wall of their chapel in Thornbury, Melbourne. 

 These artworks are unique, very vibrant and engaging, not only raw and heart-felt for John Dunn, but capturing at a deep level the experience of all Aboriginal people.  They encourage reflection on the story of Aboriginal Australia, an awareness of discrimination and the disregard for human rights, and a yearning for healing and justice.  They are an invitation to the wider community to connect with the faith and spirituality of Aboriginal people who have carried the Creator Spirit with them since time immemorial.

The paintings are rich with Aboriginal symbolism.  Many of these recurring elements are visible even in the first Station.

 

Aboriginal figures often watch from a distance in curiosity; sometimes they run to get away from what is happening.

 Different animals are incorporated; they were vital for survival and used as totems for identification, like a birth, death and marriage directory.  Each person is given a totem at birth that integrates them into their mother’s and father’s family.  You cannot marry someone with the same totem; you must always protect your totem; you cannot harm, eat or hurt your totem.

The tiny hand prints represent the ancestors in the Dreaming (heaven) watching over us for eternity; people must always respect their ancestors and never forget them for without them no one would be here today.

 John Dunn’s family from Far North Queensland are represented by the ceremonial head dresses still worn for special ceremonies and rituals; they are a recognition of Our Own People.

 The circles in the Aboriginal journey tracks represent Aboriginal people from different tribes meeting together; these meetings occur regularly in their journeys over this wide land.

The colors reflect the Australian continent and the ochres traditionally used for artwork and for body paint in ceremonies and rituals; Aboriginal spirituality recognizes that human lives are governed by the Creator Spirit.

 The cross which Jesus carries also uses Tiwi designs; it demonstrates the Jesus’ story is inclusive of the many different tribes and arts from all parts of Australia.

DISSIDENT POETESS

 

Contemporary Ukrainian writer LINA KOSTENK is in her 90s, but is already one of the most inspiring women in the country’s history. For many years, her work remained unpublished, since in the 1960s she participated in the dissident and “Sixties” movements. This period spurred the newest styles in Ukrainian literature, forced to create something avant-garde and critical in relation to the authorities and to the then-totalitarian regime. She wrote hundreds of poems but only one novel (Notes of the Ukrainian Insane), which instantly became a bestseller.

She was born in 1930 in Rzhyshchiv, Kyiv Oblast (not far from the Chernobyl Zone, and in the 1990s she worked in the affected area on the preservation of cultural heritage) into a family of teachers.

In the 1930s her father was sent to the Gulag as ‘an enemy of the people’. After WWII Lina graduated from the Kyiv Pedagogical Institute and in 1956 from the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow.

 Her first book of poems, Rays of the Earth, was published in 1957.  In the early 1960s, she faced an onslaught from the Soviet critics accusing her poetry of ‘disconnection from the real life’ and ‘formalistic experimentation’.

Her refusal to give into ideological criticism and the demands of Soviet censorship led to her work being blocked from publication until 1977. During this time she was an active and outspoken member of the Ukrainian dissident movement. She continued publishing into the post-Soviet period, and in 2010, she published her first novel, "Notes of a Ukrainian Madman", an account of the social and political upheaval in independent Ukraine, which immediately became a bestseller.

In 1987, she was awarded Shevchenko National Prize for the same novel.Beside poetry, Kostenko wrote prose. Her novel Notes of a Ukrainian Madman (2010) was the only prominent work trying to explain the events of the Orange Revolution of 2004. The novel was an immediate bestseller and gained popular and critical acclaim.

 She is an Honored Professor of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, Honorary Doctor of Lviv and Chernivtsi Universities. In the modern Ukrainian tradition, she is among the most famous women of ancient and modern Ukraine. Her  works have been translated into many languages: English, Belarusian, Estonian, Italian, Lithuanian, German, Russian, Slovak and Spanish

Her poetry consists primarily of intimate, lyric poems and ‘social’ poems on the role and responsibility of a poet, particularly in a totalitarian society. Employing diverse rhythms, sophisticated language, it   ranges from playful irony and humor to scathing satire. She is acknowledged as one of the best current Ukrainian poets. A wise and prophetic woman, she writes:…the worst is not that everything might be changed but that everything might stay the same…

Her poem “A terrible kaleidoscope,” was published a year after the Chernobyl disaster. (Translation by Uilleam Blacker).

A Terrible Kaleidoscope

In this moment somewhere someone dies.
In this moment. This very moment.
Each and every minute
A ship is wrecked.
The Galapagos burn.
And above the Dnipro
Sets the bitter wormwood star.
Explosion. Volcano.
Ruin. Destruction.
One aims. Another falls.
“Don’t shoot!” a third implores.
Scheherazade’s tales run dry.
Lorelei sings by the Rhine no more.
A child plays. A comet flies.
Faces bloom, not erased by dread.
Blessed is each moment we’re alive
On these worldwide fields of death.

 

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HEROIC WOMAN OF POETRY

 March was WOMEN’S HISTORY month which studies of the role that women have played in history. It includes the study of the history of the growth of woman's rights throughout recorded history, personal achievement over a period of time, the examination of individual and groups of women of historical significance, and the effect that historical events have had on women.

Inherent in the study of women's history is the belief that more traditional recordings of history have minimized or ignored the contributions of women to different fields and the effect that historical events had on women as a whole; in this respect, women's history is often a form of historical revisionism, seeking to challenge or expand the traditional historical consensus.

Even though we have started a new month, and since our focus these past weeks has been on the UKRAINE, I thought it appropriate to examine the lives of some of this country’s modern women authors and the effect they have had on their country.

The first writer is LESYA UKRAINKA, born in 1871, she was the daughter of a mother who wrote poetry and short stories for children. She was also active in the in the women's movement and published a feminist almanac. While her mother played an active role in bringing up the children, they were educated by Ukrainian tutors at home, to avoid schools that taught Russian as the primary language. Lesya’s  father was of noble lineage and active in politics.

 At the age of eight,  Lesya wrote her first poem, "Hope," which was composed in reaction to the arrest and exile of her aunt, Olena Kosach, for taking part in a political movement against the tsarist autocracy.

Her uncle, Mykhaylo Drahomanov, encouraged her to study Ukrainian folk songs, folk stories, and history, and  to peruse the Bible for its inspired poetry and eternal themes. She also was influenced by  other well-known composers and poets.

 At the age of 13, her mother suggested that she use a pseudonym, because, in the Russian Empire, publications in the Ukrainian language were forbidden. Lesya's first collection of poetry had to be published secretly in western Ukraine and stole into Kyiv under her pseudonym. At this time, she was also studying to  become a pianist, but but due to tuberculosis of the bone, she did not attend any outside educational establishment. Writing was to be the main focus of her life.

Her poems and plays are associated with her belief in her country's freedom and independence. Lesya's illness made it necessary for her to travel to places where the climate was dry, thus, she spent extended periods of time in Germany,Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, Crimea, the Caucasus, and Egypt. She loved experiencing other cultures, which was evident in many of her literary works.

Lesya actively opposed Russian tsarism and was a member of Ukrainian Marxist organizations. In 1902 she translated the Communist Manifesto into Ukrainian. She was briefly arrested in 1907 by tsarist police and remained under surveillance..

In 1907,  she married Klyment Kvitka, a court official, who was an amateur ethnographer and musicologist. They settled first in Crimea, then moved to Georgia.

Lesya died in August 1913 at a health resort in Surami, Georgia. Lesya is known primarily as a poet of courage and struggle and  characterizes the ancient understanding of valor and the strength of the woman warrior, which we certainly see in the Ukrainian women in today’s war with Russia.

(Painting on right- Nataliya Bagatskaya)

Contra Spem Spero! (I Hope Against Hope)

Away, dark thoughts, you autumn clouds!
A golden spring is here!
Shall it be thus in sorrow and in lamentation
That my youthful years pass away?

No, through all my tears I still shall laugh,
Sing songs despite my troubles;
Have hope despite all odds,
I want to live! Away, you sorrowful thoughts!

On this poor, indigent ground
I shall sow flowers of flowing colors;
I shall sow flowers even amidst the frost,
And water them with my bitter tears.

And from those burning tears will melt
The frozen crust, so hard and strong,
Perhaps the flowers will bloom and
Bring about for me a joyous spring.

Unto a winding, flinty mountain
Shall I bear my weighty stone,
Yet, even bearing such a crushing weight,
Will I sing a joyful song.

Throughout a lasting night of darkness
Ne’er shall I rest my own eyes,
Always searching for the guiding star,
The bright empress of the dark night skies.

I shall not allow my heart to fall sleep,
Though gloom and misery envelop me,
Despite my certain feelings
That death is beating at my breast.

Death will settle heavily on that breast,
The snow covered by a cruel haze,
But fierce shall beat my little heart,
And maybe, with its ferocity, overcome death.

Yes, I will laugh despite my tears,
I’ll sing out songs amidst my misfortunes;
I’ll have hope despite all odds,
I will live! Away, you sorrowful thoughts!

PRAYER FOR PEACE

 

 

We ask you, Queen of Peace,
to help us respond with the power of truth and love
to the new and unsettling challenges of the present moment.
Help us also to pass through this difficult period,
that disturbs the serenity of so many people,
and to work without delay to build every day and everywhere
a genuine culture of peace.

 

Lord Jesus Christ, who are called the Prince of Peace,
who are yourself our peace and reconciliation,
who so often said, “Peace to you,” grant us peace.
Make all men and women witnesses of truth, justice, and brotherly love.
Banish from their hearts whatever might endanger peace.
Enlighten our rulers that they may guarantee and defend the great gift of peace.
May all peoples of the earth becomes as brothers and sisters.
May longed-for peace blossom forth and reign always over us all.