Matthew 5:43-48 | |
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Christian Martyrs in the Colosseum, Painted by Konstantin Flavitsky (1830-1866), Painted in 1862, Oil on Canvas © The State Russian Museum, St Petersburg | |
Gospel Reading | |
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ | |
Reflection on the painting | |
From today's Gospel passage it is clear that Jesus wants us to go beyond what we could do on our own. He calls us to love our enemies. He lived this out when he was crucified. Even at that very moment he loved everyone around him and showed unconditional love. It is easy to love the people who love us and who bring blessings on us; it is a whole lot harder to love people we don't particularly warm to or even like. But those are exactly the people Jesus is asking us to love too. Especially during Lent, our Lord can help lift us beyond what we think possible. The first Christians had to put this into practice in a very real way, during the Roman persecutions. Our artist, Konstantin Flavitsky, depicts Christians about to be killed in the Colosseum in Rome. They are all gathered in the corridors of the arena. Flavitsky depicts the moment when the guards open the doors and push the Christians out, to be fed to the lions or be killed in any other cruel way for the entertainment of the Romans. The moral strength of the early Christians is on full display. The man on the left holding aloft a cross has resolve and is ready to face death in the name of Christ. That small cross in our painting is one of the first things we notice. It is set against the brightness of light. Christian children, women, men are ready to give their lives for their faith. They prayed for those who persecuted them and put today's Gospel reading into practice in a very tangible way. ‘Love your enemies and pray...’: Jesus suggests that to pray for those who persecute us is to do something that has a divine quality to it. It is to give expression to the love of God which goes out to all, even to those whom we think least deserve it. |
DETTERLING BEFORE YOU MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF: I think you may have the wrong Mr Wilson - an understandable mistake. I am referring to Aloysius Norbert Wilson.
ReplyDeleteGENE
BALLS.
DeleteOh fuck off, Gene: don't insult my intelligence. "Aloysius Norbert Wilson" - for fuck's sake. Call yourself a novelist? you can't even invent a convincing lie.
DeleteYou clearly intended readers to understand that Andrew Norman Wilson had reviewed your book favourably. Well, we will find out when I send the screen shots of the Harris and Hoole posts to Stephanie Adam, who seems to guard her clients' reputations very jealously - she replied to my original email within thirty minutes, asking for further and better details. I will be very happy to supply her with these.
Which still leaves the matter of the Huffington Post.
Andrew Losowsky has yet to respond, and at least your poverty-stricken powers of invention didn't come up with some crap about Huffington being the name of the bugler who played the Last Post at the 1919 Remembrance Day services in Spring Lake, Alberta, dropped dead of an aneurysm as the last notes died away and had the local paper, The Huffington Post, re-named after him.
This morning's Amazon Best Sellers List shows "Granny Barkes fell in Woolworths" standing at number 2,555,554 in the rankings.
Gene Vincent, illiterate, pretentious, deluded, hypocritical, nasty, a total failure as a writer, and about to be exposed to a public humiliation from the Huffington Post and one of the most respected literary critics in Britain. I will encourage Mr Wilson to produce one of the blistering denunciations of literary fraudulence which so often entertain readers of The Spectator.
If that is "victory", what will defeat look like? I can hardly wait
Well, you have been warned Detters, You have the wrong Mr Wilson.
ReplyDeleteActually I quite like AN Wilson and his waspishness.
The week of the death of Princess Diana he wrote in the London Evening Standard: 'Of course the big news of the week has been John Prescott's attempted amendment of the proposed Transport Bill.'
GENE
Gene, do you actually believe the abject crap that you spout?
DeletePrint the review written by "Aloysius Norbert Wilson", giving details of the journal or newspaper in which it was published and a date.
No, thought not.
Well, we will see what Andrew Norman Wilson has to say about your lying.
Now don't be foolish Detters. Do not attempt to contact AN Wilson.
DeleteGENE
Balls.
DeleteWhat is foolish about asking a reputable author to source the date and publication of a review he has written?
Why are you shitting yourself?
Oh, by the way, don't re-draft the Harris and Hoole post - Stephanie Adam, Mr Wilson's agent, has already seen the screenshots of the original.