{"id":6480,"date":"2014-05-24T14:25:09","date_gmt":"2014-05-24T13:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=6480"},"modified":"2014-05-24T14:25:09","modified_gmt":"2014-05-24T13:25:09","slug":"5th-sunday-of-easter-18-05-14-the-artistic-process-in-reverse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=6480","title":{"rendered":"5th Sunday of Easter (18.05.14) The Artistic Process In Reverse"},"content":{"rendered":"

5th Sunday of Easter (18.05.14)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The Artistic Process In Reverse<\/strong><\/p>\n

Works of art are normally displayed within a building. In the case of artistic stonemasons the entirety of a building, externally and internally, can constitute their work. Their fine art graces, even identifies, our cities and historic homes! An artistic stonemason\u2019s very particular gift is visualising how the block of hard, inanimate material before them can be chiselled, with skilful patience, to represent a unique artistic expression of timeless beauty.<\/p>\n

As Baptised people, we believe that each person is born innately bearing the image and likeness of God, a likeness perhaps most evident in the fleeting years of innocence. Thereafter, the spiritually weathering effects of our place of exile conspire to occlude the Divine likeness, though deep within that likeness remains. Individually, we are the scarred battlefield on which God and Satan struggle for our soul until we draw our last breath.<\/p>\n

A human artistic stonemason chisels his vision on to inanimate matter. God, by contrast, continually breathes eternal life through a living, loving, individual relationship with us to make possible, with our repeated assent, the surfacing of the Divine likeness already within.<\/p>\n

This Sunday\u2019s 2nd. Reading from St. Peter\u2019s First Letter (2: 4-9) helps us understand the process. Be prepared for metaphors! St. Peter uses the term \u201cliving stone\u201d. We may not, previously, have thought about the metaphor yet it contains rich teaching.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an extract from today\u2019s reading:
\n\u201cBeloved –<\/em>
\nCome to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

If we deconstruct the passage good things can be found.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeloved -\u201d<\/strong>
\nThe Holy Spirit, through St. Peter, addresses us as his \u2018beloved\u2019, his irreplaceable, much loved people whom he cherishes individually. Do we believe, really believe, God? Or do we treat God as we might treat an ageing grandparent \u2013 with patience and some distance?<\/p>\n

\u201cCome \u2026\u201d<\/strong>
\nDo we hear an imperial command or a gentle, encouraging invitation from the Holy Spirit? One day, it is true, God, revealed in his full Divinity, will summon all humanity to eternity and there will be no backsliders. But until then, God invites.<\/p>\n

The choice is ours – to accept, to decline or to postpone. Are we alert to his daily invitations? Do we misjudge his gentleness and show it by our procrastination, presuming that we paid attention to the invitation in the first place?<\/p>\n

\u201cCome to him.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nCome to whom? To Jesus, He is \u2018the\u2019 Living Stone, the Living Foundation Stone of a Redeemed humanity whose likeness to God has yet to surface in us.<\/p>\n

Jesus would have been indistinguishable among many male Palestinian Jews of a similar age. Judas had to point out Jesus to the arresting mob in the Gethsemane garden yet the Son of Man had within himself the essence of God. The majority of his contemporaries did not recognise that essence. The individuals who did are identifiable, in the main, by their poverty, suffering and misfortune. Think of Simeon and Anna who looked at the infant Jesus being presented in the Temple and recognised God-made-Man. Recall the blind people, deaf people, dumb people \u2013 dead people too \u2013 who heard his word, felt his touch and were made whole. The suffering, the poor and the genuinely holy came to or were brought to Jesus and knew him for who he is. That should challenge many of us.<\/p>\n

\u201ca living stone.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nAm I comfortable with this description? Or is a \u2018living stone\u2019 just a metaphoric phrase associated with the Bible? Can there be a stone-likeness revealed, at times, in my stubborn, unyielding will perhaps with an explosive sharp, cutting edge?<\/p>\n

The phrase \u2018a living stone\u2019 also reminds Christians that remaining faithful to the point of death, if need be, in a time of persecution is part of our Baptismal commitment. Our forebears laid down their lives and are honoured as martyrs that we might be free to believe today.<\/p>\n

Most important of all is the will of each \u2018living stone\u2019 to form a holy, visible unity with all the other \u2018living stones\u2019 forming The Church. This is what Jesus prays for:\u00a0\u201c<\/em>that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(John 17:21)<\/p>\n

\u201crejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus is the cornerstone rejected by humanity. He is the rock on which his heavenly Father\u2019s family is redeemed. In choosing his heavenly Father\u2019s will, Jesus brings upon himself pain beyond our understanding as he validates, in his own blood, being The Beloved Son of his Father.<\/p>\n

In our waking hours we continuously exercise our freedom of choice. In which direction do our conscious choices take us? Are we tempted towards social popularity more than towards endorsing God\u2019s choice of us as his adopted daughters and sons? For sure, when we put God first we may well become unintelligible, inexplicable, objectionable to quite a number of people; some may even be blood relatives as well as friends and acquaintances.<\/p>\n

We are precious in God\u2019s sight. Do we believe it and is our belief visible in the way we live? How often do we consciously thank God our Father for sending us his Son, Jesus?<\/p>\n

\u201clike living stones, let yourself be built into a spiritual house\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nVery exceptionally a stonemason may find a piece of stone that requires little dressing. It just seems a perfect fit. One such \u2018living stone\u2019 must surely be Mary, the Mother of the Lord. The Archangel Gabriel addressed her as,\u201cHail! Full of grace.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(Luke 1: 28)<\/p>\n

Mary\u2019s reply,\u00a0\u201cLet it be done to me according to your word\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(Luke 1: 38) is the perfect human response from a person perfectly and uniquely in harmony with God.<\/p>\n

All others need to be fashioned by the Holy Spirit. For this to happen, we must give not only our consent but also our collaboration. Nor is the exercise a pain free experience for Satan will fight to keep his hold on us. The sinless Mary was advised by Simeon \u201cand a sword will pierce your own soul too\u201d (Luke2:35)<\/p>\n

\u201c .. to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nThe word priesthood has become, sadly, synonymous with power in the minds of many; more specifically, with the abuse of power.<\/p>\n

Jesus, in his life and teaching, demonstrated that at the heart of priesthood lies in the loving service, even to the point of the giving of one\u2019s life as he did, to which each Baptised person is called by this Sacrament of Initiation.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis, in his writings and his spoken words, frequently explores the multiple aspects of both the Priesthood of the Laity and the Ordained Priesthood. Personal holiness characterises all Priesthood, as St. Peter\u2019s words make clear.<\/p>\n

Holiness is a gift not something purchasable or manufactured. Essentially, it is an individual\u2019s deliberate, committed, emptying of self to allow the indwelling of God\u2019s Holy Spirit. St. Peter\u2019s \u201cto be\u201d could also be translated as \u201cto become a holy priesthood\u201d for it is asks a lifetime of dedication. The indwelling Holy Spirit radiates holiness from within transforming even the mundane into a spiritual offering.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5th Sunday of Easter (18.05.14) The Artistic Process In Reverse Works of art are normally displayed within a building. In the case of artistic stonemasons the entirety of a building, externally and internally, can constitute their work. Their fine art … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archdiocese-of-liverpool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6481,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6480\/revisions\/6481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}