by SFXparish | Jan 23, 2020 | BLOG
As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, [Jesus] saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mt 4:18-19)
The word fish is most often used as a noun, however its meaning varies greatly as a verb. In the card game “Go Fish” the player who asks incorrectly for a card from his opponent is sent back to the stack to choose a blind card. “To fish” in this case means grabbing at what one cannot see. Fishing can also mean “searching” such as when investigators cast a broad net to gain information and are sometimes accused of going on a “fishing expedition”.
Commercial fishermen today search with more precision using new technology and in fishing grounds where they expect to find fish. Even the rod fisherman seeks reliability by staking out his favorite spot to cast his line.
In the search for His twelve Apostles, Jesus acted with far greater precision and planning. His selection of fishermen was providential in that God formed these men in the wombs of the wives of fishermen just so that the phrase “fishers of men” might reverberate through salvation history. God’s determination to inject fishermen into the divine narrative set the stage for Jesus to perform miracles as vigorous metaphors for the vastness of His kingdom (Lk 5:6), to compare His kingdom to a great net (Mt 13:47) and to teach his disciples to move beyond the shallow out into the deep (Lk 5:4). It is also not coincidental that Our Lord chose to tell this story by lake and by sea (e.g. Mt 13:1 & Lk 5:1).
For this Third Sunday in Ordinary Time we place on our parish bulletin cover a fragment of a work by the Sienese medieval master Duccio entitled Appearance of Christ to the Apostles (1311). Duccio was one of those artists who bridged the gap between the Gothic and Renaissance periods. He is historical proof that the rebirth of art in Europe began during the Middle Ages.
This work is an allegory of Christ’s call since only four of the Apostles were known in the Bible to be fishermen. Unseen in the image are Christ who stands on shore and Peter who walks on water toward him. For our purpose we will say that from left to right stand John, Andrew, Matthew and James (we have chosen Matthew as third in this order for his hand over his chest indicating the traditional “who, me?” posture). In any case those standing have lost interest in fishing and are drawn wholly to the Lord who is calling them. For us Thomas is the bent apostle to the far right with only a single grip on the net, but the apostle dressed in red (for the Sacred Blood he will cause to spill) is Judas. He has both hands engaged in his earthly task, inattentive, back turned to Jesus; more engrossed with the price that this great catch will bring.
This image is presented here to remind us that Jesus searches for us; He calls us. Have we listened for the call or have we been inattentive, doubtful or indifferent; or have we been like Peter stepping boldly out into the deep?
-Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services
by SFXparish | Jan 16, 2020 | BLOG
The LORD said to me: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I show my glory. Now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb… (Is 49:3)
The womb is a blessed place. Any place ought to be held blessed which is the fundamental and foremost cradle of all human life. Without the womb there would be no human life. Even those modern vices of fetal surrogacy and fashioning children in laboratories would fail utterly without the womb as their anchor and agent.
The womb is the nursery endorsed by nature for the original nourishment of children. It should be highly honored. The womb and its fertility should be respected and venerated as the vessel of life chosen by God. It should not violated for personal goals. The womb is not just good for something; as the kernel of femininity it is good-in-itself. Thus no person should ever take it upon himself (or herself) to use the womb for their own profit nor ever cause it violence. The womb is inviolate; direct abortion being directly abhorrent to it. Any man who would traffic or purge the womb is a brigand and a home invader; any woman who would freely offer it violence is as a priest who would desecrate his own tabernacle.
During this week many of our parishioners will march for life in Washington D.C.! They hope as best they can to form a circle of protection around the womb from all its violators. But just as much as this, they hope to shine a light on the beauty of God’s creation in the womb and the special dignity due to each and every individual knitted in the womb, intentionally or not, as the image of God.
For this 2nd Sunday in Ordinary time, just as we depart the Christmas season, we place on our bulletin cover for this month dedicated to the cause of life, a work by the 20th century Danish painter L.A. Ring entitled, At the French Windows; an Artist’s Wife (1897). Ring is considered both a realist and a symbolist, painting works that range between realism and symbolism. His scenes vary from pastoral landscapes to the genre of laborers to dark spiritual images.
In the scene adorning our bulletin cover some experts have surmised that Ring, an atheist, was contrasting ordered humanity with untamed nature by the contrast of the pregnant woman with a gnarled nearby tree. However, we think this is applying the symbolist interpretation too radically toward a work based solidly in realism.
If there is any symbolism here it appears to be a celebration of life through a flower motif. The bending posture of the tree is in fact realism; realistic for instance to a Hawthorn as are its white blossoms which express here the fruitfulness of the artist’s wife. Ring paints his wife as a long-stem flower leaning in the opposite direction of the small tree near to her. The gold ribbon around her waist emphasizes her “blossoming” child. Blooms decorate her dress as even her neckline appears as white petals. Taken as a whole, the artist’s wife is depicted as a Brown-eyed-Susan expressing the bourgeoning landscape of life.
As noted, it is said that Ring was an atheist. Yet, even a sincere atheist expecting a child cannot fail to see the wonder and loveliness of the womb in full bloom; nor can a sincere artist refrain from painting its blessedness.
-Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services
by SFXparish | Jan 9, 2020 | BLOG
After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him… And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:16-17)
How many of you will contend that if God spoke about you to others that he would declare how well-pleased he is? How many of us could say with certainty that everything we think, say, and do in the course of an average week is well-pleasing to the Lord. Would we not admit at least a few things wanting in ourselves; perhaps more than a few things that God would find unpleasing?
How many of us wake up in the morning with the distinct purpose of pleasing God? Are the first words that pass our lips, “Lord Father, help me to spend this entire day pleasing you”? Perhaps we should consider starting our day like this to be in the correct disposition of love toward God.
Many of us who try to do what is right and just in the eyes of God do so because we want to avoid God’s punishment. This is not a bad thing, but it could and should be better. Better for us if we were to do what is right and just in order to please God.
“Father” is the name Jesus revealed to us concerning the One Lord who sent Him to earth. This Holy Name is itself instructive because it implies that we are to become like little children (Mt 18:3) in order to know and love God as an ever-loving Father. That is, we are to put off our worldly “maturity” so as to please God as ever-loving children.
For this year’s celebration of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we have placed on our bulletin cover a work by Adam Elsheimer entitled Baptism of Christ (1599). Elsheimer was a German Baroque painter who made his way to Rome absorbing its methods and adapting these to his German training. He eventually converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism. His style was influential on the Germanic (Dutch) traditions of Rembrandt and Rubens, the latter with whom he became friends.
Baptism of Christ is a complex work using diagonals. The first traverses from God the Father who sends the Holy Spirit (dove and rays) through a ring of cherubs to descend upon Jesus. The second begins from a large angelic being and two cherubs carrying a kingly robe in which to enwrap Jesus after his baptism.
This painting is also a symbolic piece. The right hand of John (pouring water) and the two outstretched arms of Jesus form the Sign of the Cross used in Baptism. Further, Jesus peers at a man taking off his shoe as if to bathe his feet in the blessed water. This man represents one who is oblivious or even disdainful to the water of grace – one with whom God is not pleased In contrast to this man, the people in the background appear to symbolize various nations that will eagerly come to be baptized in Christ.
Ours is not a difficult choice between following the law of God (in fear of punishment) or pleasing God (out of love). Just as Elsheimer integrates his German training into the Roman style, so are we called to incorporate God’s laws into the practice of love, so as to fulfill the glorious, divine pleasure.
-Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Studies
by SFXparish | Jan 2, 2020 | BLOG
Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.” (Mt 2:7-8)
An epiphany is not a private vision; it is a public manifestation. As such it is an event for many or all to see. An epiphany may be distinguished from an apparition which, though perhaps for the encouragement of all, is often only seen by the eyes of one or the few. Further, when the Church speaks of an epiphany she means a specific biblical manifestation of Christ such as in the events of the Adoration of the Magi, the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, and the Miracle at Cana when the Blessed Mother introduced Jesus to the world through his first public miracle. These three particular manifestations are what we celebrate this day.
Hence it was a very selfish act of King Herod to try to keep the appearance of the star and the Messiah private. Herod the Great called the Wise Men to him in secret, sent them away in secret, and expected them to send him word in secret. Herod showed himself to not only misunderstand the gospel message – since he wanted to keep its appearance under a bushel basket (Mt 5:15) – but to be an adversary of the good news by keeping what was for all to himself and for his own sinister discretion and strategy. It may be that Herod wanted only at first to fulfill his kingly curiosity, but when he could not keep the Messianic appearance from becoming known and the Messiah had slipped through his grasp, his prideful stealth drove him to madness and any story he may have thought up to convince himself that he intended to honor the Christ was revealed to be diabolical plan in his heart by way of his horrific slaughter of the innocents (Mt 2:16-18).
This desire for a private showing of the good news was not limited to Herod the Great but was carried over to his son, Herod Antipas, who wanted to see Jesus perform some private sign (Lk 23:8). Jesus might have cunningly complied, offering Antipas a befitting private condemnation in the tradition of Daniel to Belshazzar (Dn 5:22-28), but Jesus did not come to the earth for private showings or private miracles or even private vengeance, but for a public ministry and a public sacrifice that would change the world utterly.
For this Feast of the Epiphany we acknowledge the public message of Jesus Christ. We place on our bulletin cover a work by the Florentine master Andrea del Sarto entitled The Journey of the Magi (1511). Del Sarto set the stage for other greats like Michelangelo, Raphael, and Da Vinci as he introduced the Mannerist style into the High Renaissance. Del Sarto retains the classical stances and architecture, yet his figures turn and lean in various directions in non-symmetrical groupings presenting a less balanced effect. This “manneristic” crowding and commotion coincides with our Gospel narrative which tells of how the arrival of the Magi made Herod and all Jerusalem “greatly troubled” (Mt 2:3).
For centuries now the gospel message has troubled the hearts and minds of many. What is meant to be news of salvation to all, is to some, who rebel against God, a constant frustration. We should never forget that just as with Herod the Great this frustration can turn to persecution on a whim. Yet in all circumstances we must be prepared to be a living epiphany to the world; luminaries of grace to those seeking the truth.
-Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services
by SFXparish | Dec 29, 2019 | NEWS
Shoes for Rwanda:Thank you to all who made donations for the purchase of shoes for children in a Rwandan village. We raised $2,345.00 which is enough to purchase nearly 120 pairs of shoes for children to be able to attend school. This annual Advent fundraiser continues to have your great support. We are forwarding every penny of the raised amount to Father Leonard Kayondo so he can see that the funds go directly to the benefit of the Rwandan children.
