THE ETERNAL ‘NOW’ OF CHRIST

For those who have visited ‘The Holy Land’, amongst the many memories and experiences, they should remember something peculiar when having breakfast, lunch or dinner. Do you recall the fact that bunches of ‘grapes’ were served with every meal, including breakfast? At least it was like that on the three occasions I visited Israel.

You can see ‘vineyards’ wherever you find a patch of soil. Yet the vine is very particular, it will not flourish unless it has very clean and healthy soil, besides it needs pruning continually. The farmer keeps it under check for three whole years, until it will be time to bear fruit. Jesus knew much more than I about vines, as did all other Jews. So He did use the vine to send a message to His followers.

The dry wood of the vine cannot be used for anything, unlike other trees. Once the dry branch is pruned, it will be thrown into the fire for burning. Any branch of the vine must be joined to the main one, otherwise it will die. It was a perfect example the famous Rabbi, Christ could mention. If  His followers are not regularly ‘pruned’, they might end of being cast away into fire.

Jesus had in mind His Mystical Body. What is the Mystical Body? Actually it is difficult to explain and to understand. THIS union with Christ gives us a ‘dignity’, not the worldly dignity of the social strata, ‘a spiritual dignity’. We do not become God, we do remain human beings, but we are not talking about the physical aspect. I remain Tony, with the same personality, I retain my free will to choose, to refuse and to accept. I remain responsible for my doings, my words and deeds.

But, on a spiritual level I will be ‘one’ with Christ to the extent that my ‘unity’ will be stronger ... for lack of a better word ... than when I was united to my mother in her womb. The same with Jesus, He will be one with me more than when He was with His mother Mary, when still in her womb. That is the example Jesus tried to pass on to His followers when he mentioned the vine. It is more than ‘one-ness’, it is total integrity.

But this happens in the ‘supernatural order’. Man can, may live two ‘lives’; the natural and the supernatural. This is the essence of the Mystical Body. This state is not conditioned by neither ‘time’ nor even by ‘space’. For this reason Christ could have suffered and died for me, one thousand, nine hundred and thirty five years before even I was conceived. And that applies to all humanity, to all of every age and era.

Christ embraced in His loving arms all humanity, when He was in the Temple of His mother’s womb; when He was in His father’s shop in Nazareth; along the side-roads of Galilee; when He was on the Cross; even now, in Heaven in the glory of His Father. He still embraces us all and together with Him we form the Mystical Body, the Vine.

MADE TO ORDER ... ACCORDING TO SPECIFICATIONS

‘One word’ can change the whole meaning of any paragraph, any chapter and even a whole book. Remove that particular ‘word’ and things look and mean differently. A case in point is next Sunday’s Gospel. Jesus said: “I am the ‘good’ shepherd.” Had he declared that He was a shepherd, leaving out the adjective ‘good’,  this would have meant that He would have behaved like the other  shepherds. But by declaring : “I am the ‘good’ shepherd”, meant that THIS shepherd had different terms of reference, ‘he was good’.

Now, what does the word ‘good’ mean? Rather, what word was used in the original text. In Greek we do have two words meaning ‘good’, these are, ‘agathos’ and ‘kalos’. ‘Agathos’ describes simply the moral quality  of a thing, whilst ‘kalos’ means that in the goodness there is also a quality of winsomeness which makes it lovely. When Jesus is described as the ‘good’ shepherd, the word ‘kalos’ is used.

In Him there is more than efficiency  and fidelity, there is grace and sweetness. The village doctor might be ‘a good doctor’, meaning he is efficient and skilful as a physician, but also that he is sympathetic, kind and gracious. We have to refer to the ‘fold’. A shepherd who owns the fold, has probably inherited the fold from his father or other relative; he might have bought it.

So the shepherd is such by chance, as a family trade. But not Christ; He was born to be a shepherd, a ‘good’ shepherd, at that. It was His free choice to lead the fold, especially to rescue and save those in trouble. He showed great respect towards the ‘shepherds’ who received the first news that the ‘good shepherd’ was born.

Christ was born with the terms of reference that He was ready to sacrifice Himself for the fold, which He in fact did. Unlike the normal shepherds who might end their life as shepherds without ever being in danger of losing their life. The shepherds used to lead their fold to good grazing grounds so that their sheep might have their full. BUT, have you ever thought about the ‘good shepherd’? He provided food for His sheep, He provided us with the ‘Bread of Angels’ with His own Body and Blood. When He instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist it was as if He was leading us to ‘pastures green’.

Another point to consider; the ‘good’ shepherd became as one of the fold, and ultimately ended up being the ‘sacrificial lamb’. The Risen Christ ascended into Heaven, but He is still our ‘good’ shepherd because He did leave the mission of shepherding in the good hands of the Church.

WALK IN THE SUNRISE … NEVER FACE SUNSET

This advice forms part of the Jewish wisdom and genuine Rabbis frequently quoted it: “Never walk in the sunset, but always face sunrise.”  Certainly this does not mean that one should not have an evening walk and enjoy the setting of the sun behind the hills and mountains. It does not mean that one should not enjoy the setting of the red ball of fire setting ablaze the Sea of Galilee.

We have to look deeper for the meaning of this saying. And that is just what Cleophas and his Disciple friend missed out when they were on their way to Emmaus. Understandable they were still in a state of shock after witnessing the death of their Master, Jesus Christ. They were living in darkness and gloom. Their hearts were heavy. For them it was the end of their dreams, their projects and almost ... the end of the world.

Yes, it was sunset, but not because the sun was setting over the horizon or behind the Golan hillls, it was rather their state of mind. Were it daylight they would still have felt that way because their ‘state of mind’, their thoughts, their disappointments were such that mentally what their eyes saw, although it was positive, their mental image was translated, was interpreted, as  ‘a negative’  image. They did tell ‘the stranger, ‘it will soon be dark’. I dare say, that for them, had they met the stranger in mid-morning, they would still have felt comfortable to say, ‘it will soon be dark.’

Every Christian, should always ‘face the sunrise’. Every Christian should be positive, for the simple reason that as a baby in mother’s arms we were never negative. We never bothered if we were going to be fed two or three times a day, we never doubted if our nappy was going to be changed when it needed to, it never crossed our tiny mind if ‘mummy’ is going to be close to us, to hug us, to kiss  us, to make giggling sounds and funny faces to see us laugh. We were positive thinkers without knowing it, without being conscious of it.

BUT, alas, though we are no more babies, we still have to behave as such when it comes to confiding, trusting, believing in our beloved ‘Mum and Dad’, alias in God. God is both ‘maternal’ and ‘paternal’ love. IF we put our whole trust in Him, ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail’.

The Emmaus disciples did face the ‘sunrise’ but only after realising that the stranger was none other than their beloved Master, after the ‘breaking of the bread’. A clear message to all believers. This reminds me of the young man who told his lover, “I don’t know what life meant before, only after looking into your eyes did I realise.” We have to search for the sunrise in Jesus, in the Holy Eucharist, and then we realise that life is worth living, and dying for ... to have a new eternal birth. ‘Bon Voyage’, on your way to Emmaus, may we meet at the sunrise.    

THE TURNING POINT

What is that red pink in the sky, could it be the sign of a volcano in the process of erupting; of spluttering fire, hot lava threatening to wipe out one and all, or could it be the sign of a new day, the promise of a bright new future ?

“If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Cor. 15: 14). This is the fulcrum, the keystone, the ‘be all and the end all’ of our Religion. Paul must have been Divinely inspired to talk and write those words, because much was at stake. He must have been convinced, he must have had guts to utter such words, or he must have had strong faith of conviction. The Christian faith ‘stands or falls’ with the truth of the testimony that Christ IS risen from the dead. Paul was shouldering a huge responsibility, because this was not a declaration simply made for the Corinthians, he must have realised that this was a ‘universal’ declaration.

Admittedly if such an event, Christ’s Resurrection from the dead, did not take place, as Benedict XVI puts it, ‘a kind of religious world view, because of Christian Tradition and ideas about God, and about man’s obligations towards God’,  would still have existed, BUT, the Christian faith would be dead. Jesus would have been a failed religious leader, notwithstanding His greatness, but ... He would have remained purely human. Christ would not have been a ‘criterion’, the criterion would have been our own personal judgement. 

But the fact that Christ IS risen, a really new thing, an event has occurred that changed the world, changed world History and the situation of mankind. NOW Christ became the ‘criterion’ on which we can rely, because God has truly revealed Himself. This is the crucial point, the turning point.

That is why it is necessary, it is imperative to listen to, and understand with particular attention as the New Testament  bears witness to the Resurrection. The testimony, considered from a historical point of view, is presented in a complex form. It was not easy for the ‘witnesses’ who encountered the Risen Lord to confront what for them was a ‘new reality’, far beyond the limits of their experience. Even the three apostles coming down from the Tabor experience asked what “rising from the dead” really meant.

This was different from Lazarus’ raising from the dead, different from Jairus daughter’s, and also different from the son of the widow of Nain. Ultimately, these three persons; Lazarus, Talitha and the son died at some time later on. Christ’s was a different case altogether. Jesus after resurrecting from the dead, did not die again as all mortals do. Here we have as already declared by St.Paul a ‘universal event’, the opening up of a new dimension of human existence. This is the correct understanding of the New Testament Resurrection testimony.

Christ’s Resurrection from the dead was, and still IS an overture of a new day, a new beginning, the promise of a bright new future, of life after life.