'For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.' Sunday Reflections, 4th Sunday of Lent, Year B
Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)
Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Gospel John 3:14-21 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
The readings for Year A may be used instead of those above.
The Pharisees generally have a bad name and the adjective 'pharisaical' is defined in Merriam-Webster as marked by hypocritical censorious self-righteousness. Those words could certainly describe most of the Pharisees we meet in the gospels. But they do not apply to Nicodemus. He was patently a good man who said to Jesus when he met him at night, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him (John 3:2). He was also with Jesus at the end helping to prepare for the burial. Nicodemus, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight (John 19:39).
This good Pharisee can help us come to the light, especially when that involves walking through the darkness. Physical darkness is part of the reality that God has given us and can protect us against the cosmic powers over this present darkness (Ephesians 6:12), as it did Nicodemus when he came by night to visit Jesus.
God has given us many examples of persons willing to confront the cosmic powers over this present darkness even at the risk of their lives. One such person is in the international news as I write this, Sister Ann Roza Nu Tawng in Myitkyina ['mitchinAH'], the capital of the Kachin State, a montainous area larger than Ireland in the far north of Myanmar. A few days ago she knelt in front of armed police pleading with them not to harm protesters. In an interview shown in the Sky News video below Sister Ann Roza said, And I thought today is the day I will die. I decided to die . . . I thought it would be better if I died instead of many people.
Sister Ann Roza's actions and words reflect those of the assassinated Pakistani politician Shahbaz Bhatti about whom I wrote for the last two Sundays: I'm living for my community and suffering people and I will die to defend their rights.
Catholic Christians like Sister Ann Roza and Shahbaz Bhatti show that our Christian faith is a way of life in following Jesus, living every moment according to the Gospel, bringing the values of Jesus into every human situation. In the words of St Paul in today's Second Reading: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). [The Jerusalem Bible translation reads: We are God’s work of art, created . . .].
Persons such as Shahbaz Bhatti and Sister Ann Roza are the true face of the Church. They come from two Asian countries, Pakistan and Myanmar, where Christians are a small minority. Their witness to Jesus and the Gospel brings us the light of hope and proves the truth of his words today, For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Authentic Beauty
Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.
Pope Benedict XVI meeting with artists in the Sistine Chapel, 21 November 2009.
Wednesday 17 March is St Patrick's Day, Ireland's National Holiday. St Patrick is also the patron saint of Nigeria. Liturgically his feast is celebrated as a Solemnity, the highest rank for a feast in the Catholic Church, in Australia and Ireland. So I thought I would give an Australian flavour to the melody and song that is most associated with Ireland. The melody is Irish Tune from County Derry and is far older than the words of the song, written by an Englishman, Frederic Weatherly.
There are countless versions of Danny Boy, some wonderful, some dreadful. The Seekers are from Melbourne and Judith Durham with the angelic voice is from the Melbourne suburb of Essendon where the Columbans have been for about 100 years. She was born in 1943 - a vintage year!
The arrangement of the melody for orchestra in the video below is by Australian composer Percy Grainger and is by far the best that I know of.
Also known as Derry Air / Londonderry Air
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