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 27, 2019 | BLOG
When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.” (Mt 2:13)
“He was the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus”; so that is what we commonly say when asked about Saint Joseph. In further consideration of the community of saints in heaven, we also call him “the patron of the universal Church”, for we attest that St. Joseph still guards Christ’s mystical Body in the world such as he guarded Christ Our Lord on earth.
There are so many things that could be said of this great saint, however today we focus on Joseph the vigorous visionary. Joseph was visited by an angel who told him to take Mary as his wife even as she had been found with child (Mt 1:20). Joseph received divine instruction to carry the infant Jesus and Mary away from the enemies of God. He then received another angelic communication to return from exile to the Holy Land when the enemies of God had died (Mt 2:13). “Rise”, “Take”, “Flee”; “Stay”: the visions of Joseph happened with real imperatives in real time producing real outcomes.
Joseph was accounted to be of the bloodline of David (Mt 1:16). He is also a descendant of the spiritual lineage of Abraham. We recall God saying to Abraham, “Go forth… to a land that I will show you” (Gn 12:1) just as he says today in our Gospel quotation, “Rise, take the child and… mother, flee to Egypt.” Joseph appears thus as the last patriarch of Israel. Yet, Joseph also fully anticipates the Gospel sentiment of willingness long before Peter declared from his fishing boat, “Command me Lord…” (Mt 14:28). And it is likely that Joseph, more composed than the enthusiastic Peter, would have walked on the waves toward Jesus with less concern for the raging waters.
For this Feast of the Holy Family we place on our bulletin cover a work by the French-inspired, American painter Henry Ossawa Tanner, entitled Flight into Egypt (1923). Tanner was a self-studied African-American artist who later trained in Paris absorbing the realism of Courbet and the loose brush strokes of French Impressionism.
Tanner’s religious works display a gritty mysticism. This image has the deep lapis lazuli blue tones of the Florentine master Giotto lending it a romantic, medieval air. However, the soft sweep of Tanner’s contemporary and realistic palate allows us to reflect on the true danger of this secret escape. St. Joseph has taken up the rear guard while the enigmatic blue figure in the front, a creature of heaven, carries the divine light that Joseph has proven himself so keen to follow. The resplendent illumination of this work emotes in us the faith necessary to move forward past opacity and difficulty.
“Command me, Lord”. This is how we surmise the prayer life of Joseph. This prayer is not bashful, since its voice is in the imperative mood. While Joseph followed faithfully the dominion of God, he also exercised a confident temper that would have called upon God authoritatively: “Save me, Lord”; “Counsel me, Lord”; and “Guide me Lord” are certainly other imperative prayers – fine examples of what our prayer should be.
-Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services
by SFXparish | Dec 19, 2019 | BLOG
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, there you are. If I say, “Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light” darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one. (Ps 139:8; 11-12)
Jesus, whilst He was personally present on earth, named himself the Light of the World (Jn 8:12). This is in keeping with the prophet Isaiah’s foretelling that the savior of Israel would be a light for the nations (Is 42:6). Isaiah tells us that the savior will come establishing justice, teaching those awaiting instruction (Is 42:4), and freeing those living in the darkness of idolatry (Is 42:7-8). To move from injustice to justice, from ignorance to wisdom, and from idolatry to authentic worship is to walk in the way of the light of Christ – on the path of illumination of the savior of the world. This is the purposeful meaning of the brilliance of Christmas and is it fitting that what comes before the celebration of the birth of the Christ is Advent (light awakening), while what concludes our celebration is Epiphany (light manifesting).
You cannot hide from Christmas any more than you can hide from the light of Christ. As the psalmist writes in our quotation above, there is no place you can go where God has not already been, except perhaps to a region of sin. Yet even the infant Jesus, born without sin, grew to live out the consequences of sin through his own human suffering and death. However, being God, Jesus brought light even to death; even death cannot conceal you from God. It is as the psalmist says elsewhere: “… the Sun comes forth like a bridegroom from his canopy… From one end of the heavens it comes forth; its course runs through to the other, nothing escapes its burning heat (Ps 19:5-7). Christ comes today not only to enlighten Israel, but to illumine the whole universe; and just as man’s flesh cannot escape His light, neither can man’s soul ever escape the scorching heat of the divine conscience residing within him.
In honor of the divine light of Christ we place on our bulletin cover for this 4th Sunday in Advent and for our Christmas celebration a painting by Gerard van Honthorst, a Dutch artist of the Golden Age. Honthorst was also known as “Gerard of the Nights” for his masterful use of the Tenebrist style in illuminating darkness with unsuspecting light. The work we are using – that which we examine today – is entitled Adoration of the Christ Child .
In this image, Jesus is the sole source of light. Some of this light is shed upon the shepherds set semi-circularly above the divine infant. More light is shed upon Joseph (right) who looks down in a prayerful posture of adoration. Most of the light is reserved for the Blessed Virgin Mary shown not only receiving the light of Christ joyfully but also revealing the light by lifting the linen. Mary defines the divine light between her outstretched arms forming Our Lord Jesus into the shape of a bright crescent moon.
Honthorst reminds us that illumination and adoration are one. We come this day to adore the illumined one of God just as we are illumined through our sincere adoration.
-Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services
by SFXparish | Dec 12, 2019 | BLOG
“Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God…” (Is 35: 3-4)
Every liturgical year just before the season of Advent, the Church makes its annual attempt to remind the people of God of the “four last things”: death, judgment, heaven and hell. One way to measure the success of this effort of preaching and teaching of the four last things is to ask ourselves a follow-up question: Have we effectively instilled in the people a clear enough sense of feebleness, weakness, and trepidation sufficient to bring about a palpable relief and recovery during Advent?
It is fair to say that many in the Church have lost a proper religious awareness of the fearful. In fact, many of our own bishops and theologians have come to dismiss the fearful power of God and to discount hell entirely as fairy-tale or biblical allegory, too outdated for modern consideration. While regular reminders of the reality of hell will always be well-advised as a bulwark against temptation, it is also true that we must not see the fear of the Lord solely as a prevention against sin. We must also see it as a promotion toward virtue – as a method for spiritual progress.
The sage of the Book of Proverbs shows great understanding of this notion by declaring the fear of the Lord to be the beginning of wisdom (Prov 1:7). Further, the prophet Isaiah declares the fear of the Lord to be a gift of the Holy Spirit (Is 11:2) and of such great spiritual import that it is the virtual “delight” of the Messiah (Is 11:3). Thus for the Christian, the fear of the Lord is not only the beginning of wisdom but also its fulfilment, since what begins naturally in man as fear of punishment due to vice, becomes instead fear of offending the God we love due to virtue. Further, Isaiah’s reference to feebleness, etc. in the quotation above helps us to understand that we are to put away the fears of this world so that we may approach the fear of the Lord in proper humility and trust.
Humility moving one to trust is displayed nowhere more profoundly than in the Blessed Virgin Mary. Hence, we are raising her up as our Advent guide in the fear of the Lord. In keeping with this proposition we place on our bulletin cover for this 3rd Sunday in Advent a work by the Baroque painter Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato entitled The Virgin in Prayer (1650) now held in the National Gallery, London. Sassoferrato was actually the town Giovanni lived in which was about equidistant from the artistic powerhouses of Florence and Rome. The baroque of Giovanni appears subdued because of his particular interest in the classical work of Raphael, which made Giovanni’s works cherished as silent, devotional images during the Counter Reformation.
Here we see Mary, statuesque, in deep prayerful reflection. Let us say that this is the moment when the angel had just departed after offering her the good news and counseling her to accept it without trepidation (Lk 1:30). No doubt Mary found favor with God because she was full of the grace of the fear of the Lord, for as Mary herself declares: God “has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness” and named her “blessed” (Lk 1:48).
-Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services
by SFXparish | Dec 6, 2019 | BLOG
John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”… At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region… were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. (Mt 3:1-2; 5-6)
We cannot say with certainty that there are no famous artistic images of John the Baptist baptizing the people of Judea who came to him acknowledging their sins; yet if there are such works, they are hard to find. There are many other masterfully painted images of John: sitting or standing alone, playing as an infant, spending time with the Holy Family, venerating the Blessed Mother, preaching, and even being beheaded, yet few to none of John baptizing the repentant sinners. This is most probably because the primary focus of the many images of John baptizing are of him baptizing Jesus. The image of the “Baptism of Jesus by John” has a preeminent place in Christian art.
Perhaps it is only natural to not portray in Christian art the early penitential baptisms of John since these anointings were not in their own right supernatural (Mt 3:11). However, John’s most important role in salvation history – after being the prophetic voice announcing the coming of the Lord – is preparing the peoples for repentance. This repentance is necessary for sustaining a life of grace (Lk 13:3). Two-thousand years later, John’s ministry still plays a vital role in our liturgy reminding us of the call to repentance during the season of Advent.
John’s call is the call to conscience. It is a call to the self-examination of one’s soul. We all need to do this examination with regularity. Deep in our hearts there is a desire to do this since the soul unceasingly desires to be close to God under the divine’s sincere and intimate counsel. In accord with this, the heart yearns for forgiveness and peace. However, John can only take the human heart so far. He must eventually hand it over to Jesus (Jn 3:30).
On this 2nd Sunday in Advent we place on our bulletin cover a baroque work, John the Baptist Peaching (1665), by the Italian Mattia Preti which may have been painted in Malta after Preti was made a Knight of Malta. Preti was very much influenced by the Tenebrism of Caravaggio. Tenebrism comes from the Italian “tenebroso” (dark or gloomy) and this style is a baroque technique that mysteriously delivers salvific light into the seeming bondage of a looming darkness.
The most illuminating aspect of this work is the opening of the sky in the upper left part of the frame (which John points out). This aperture sends light through the receptacle of John’s staff which bears the Latin phrase, Behold the Lamb of God, while the banner itself reaches out and clings to the fractured stump of Jesse (Is 11:1). John’s staff acts a pointer, touching the lamb at the bottom of the scene representative of Christ. The people standing about are in postures of praise while John looks outward beyond the scene toward us, reminding us to “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mt 3:2).
John points to Jesus Christ during Advent; for Jesus alone carries our hearts from repentance to forgiveness to peace.
-Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services
by SFXparish | Nov 29, 2019 | BLOG
In days to come… many peoples shall come and say: “Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” (Is 2:2-3)
As we begin a new Advent season we do so in the midst of our parish’s year-long reflection on grace. Advent itself is a season of grace, a liturgical urging to renew our life in God as shown clearly and distinctly by the quotation above from the Church’s very first reading in Advent.
The literal meaning of this passage concerning the Lord’s mountain is a prophecy that a Messianic-restored Temple in Jerusalem will serve as a destination of “many peoples” or nations which will stream there for instruction and salvation. Christians further see in this passage an anagogical meaning (i.e. how it relates to heaven) considering it to be a proclamation of the glory of the New Jerusalem still to come. However, for our present purpose as we begin Advent, we will focus on the quotation’s spiritual meaning: how does it relate to the life of grace?
The mountain climb itself is the life of grace which begins with Jesus Christ. In Psalm 24 the Lord’s mountain is called a “holy place” and the question is put to us, “who may go up the mountain of the Lord?” (Ps 24:3). The answer to this question is he who is “clean of hand and pure of heart” (Ps 24:4). Now we would be wrong if we thought that the answer to this question relates directly to us, for none of us (on our own) is clean and pure. The only one that can ascend the Lord’s mountain is Christ. He is the clean and pure one, and it is only through the Ascension of Jesus that a life of grace becomes possible (Jn 16:7). Jesus climbs the mount of God so he may draw us up with him through His gift of grace.
According to Isaiah, the Spirit of grace “instruct[s] us in His way” so that we may “walk in His paths”. Through grace, the Lord Jesus teaches us the virtues of faith, hope and love. However before we can enter into the tutelage of grace we must first admit that we have followed the wrong way: that we have walked on errant paths; that we have sinned. Without this realization and admission, especially in Confession, we will not be able to say with commitment, “Come let us climb!”
And so we return now to the literal sense of sacred scripture on this 1st Sunday in Advent by placing on our bulletin cover a painting by James Tissot entitled The Sermon on the Mount (1896 – courtesy Brooklyn Museum). Here we see Jesus standing on the Mount as many people come from a distance to hear and to follow His instructions (Mt 5:1ff).
This work of Tissot is listed by some as being in the style of Symbolism which would place it in the category of the Pre-Raphaelites and William Blake. However if the work is symbolic, it is also realistic, relating a reality originating in a true witness account. In Advent we recall the gospel testimony of Our Lord’s first revelation on earth, while faithfully awaiting His glorious finale.
-Steve Guillotte, Director of Pastoral Services
