The Catholic Weekly 12 April 2020

23 12, April, 2020 catholicweekly.com.au COMMENT systems. That is why the Bible is “a great book about suffer- ing” (in John Paul’s striking phrase). And while the Scriptures contain many accounts of profound suffering, the Bible also teaches that “love…is the fullest source of the answer to the question of the meaning of suffering.” That was the truth to which Isaiah prophetically point- ed in the “Suffering Servant” songs. To grasp that truth ful- ly, however, humanity needed more than images or argu- ments; a demonstration was required. That demonstration, Salv- ific Doloris teaches, was what God ordained “in the cross of Jesus Christ.” There the Son, giving him- self without reservation to the Father’s plan of redemption, took the world’s evil upon himself and immolated it in perfect self-sacrifice to the di- vine will. On the cross, theolo- gian Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote, the Son freely bore “all that the Father finds loath- some,” and did so in order to “clear out all the refuse of the world’s sins by burning it in the fire of suffering love.” At Calvary, the divine wrath at the world’s wickedness co- incides with the divine mer- cy, determined to heal all that evil has broken or disfigured. On Calvary, the purifying fire of divine love reaches into history and transforms every- thing in this world that seems to stand against love, includ- Never forget Massless time Embracing the Redeemer T he Gospel readings of Lent remind us that opposition to Je- sus and his mission frequently grew out of the de- sire for a redeemer who was more like what various char- acters in the drama thought a redeemer should be. Jesus’s fellow-townsmen reject him because they can’t imagine a messiah whose rel- atives are all around them. In Jerusalem, the upper crust rejects Jesus and his claims because he’s from the Galilean boondocks: “A mes- siah fromGalilee? Please. We had something else in mind.” The Sadducees reject Je- sus because he challenges their notion of the Temple as the privileged locus of God’s presence, while the Pharisees object to his understanding of the Mosaic Law. The Twelve, along with Martha and Mary, miss the point when Jesus deliberately delays his visit to Bethany so that the glory of God may be revealed in his raising Lazarus from the dead. Then the final, degrad- ing insults come on Calvary. There, Jesus writhes in agony and struggles for breath on a cross surmounted by the mocking Roman inscription, Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeo- rum [Jesus the Nazarene, the Kind of the Jews], while pass- ersby hurl taunts – “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” (Luke 23:35). Notwithstanding the “Suf- fering Servant” canticles of the prophet Isaiah, Jesus’s contemporaries found the idea of a messiah who would redeem Israel through his suf- fering (especially suffering unto death) implausible, bor- dering on ridiculous. Surrounded by misery, in- cluding such horrors as lepro- sy and demonic possession, these men and women had difficulty imagining that the Chosen One would manifest God’s glory through the suf- fering that was ubiquitous in their time and place. Our contemporaries of- ten have a different problem: because suffering is typically kept distant, sheltered in spe- cial facilities, western culture tends to forget that suffering is an irreducible part of the hu- man condition and that suf- fering teaches us something important about us. Throughout his long life, St John Paul II knew suffering from the inside. In the 1984 apostolic letter Salvifici Do- loris [Redemptive Suffering], he invited the Church to look deeply into the mystery of suf- fering – a meditation especial- ly apt in this plague time. Animals feel pain, John Paul noted, but only men and women suffer. So suffering, even great physical suffering, has an inner or spiritual char- acter; suffering touches our souls, not just our nervous ing suffering and death. To embrace the cross is to em- brace the logic of salvation as God has established that logic, not as we might design things. God’s “demonstration” does not end on Good Friday, however. It continues through Holy Saturday until the full meaning of “redemption” is revealed on Easter. There, in the Risen Lord who manifests what Bene- dict XVI called an “evolution- ary leap” – a new and super- charged mode of human life – we encounter the supreme demonstration of the divine logic of redemption. There, in the “Lamb…. [who] had been slain” (Rev- elation 5:6) but who is now gloriously, radiantly alive, we meet God’s triumph over death itself and over all that is death-dealing in the world. There, we meet the redeemer God ordained: Jesus…has become a high priest forever…For all eter- nity he lives and intercedes for us…there is no limit to his power to save all who come to God through him. (First Re- sponsory, Office of Readings for Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent, fromHebrews 6:19-20, 7:24-25). George Weigel is the Distin- guished Senior Fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Centre in Washington T he facts of life under COVID-19 still shock me. We are afflicted with a plague of truly Biblical proportions, and for once that expression is not a cliché. The closest analogue is the Second World War. But you risked your own life then if you acted against advice given to keep you safe. Under this plague ignoring pleas to stay home risks the health of other people. In these circumstances, it is natural and wholesome to seek consolation in the Faith, especially in the Mass. But even that is deprived us since gatherings for religious pur- poses are now forbidden. In the Bible we are told of a plague that came upon Israel At Calvary, the divine wrath at the world’s wickedness coincides with the divine mercy, determined to heal all that evil has broken or disfigured.” Nowwe knowwhat it’s like to have our most cherished possession - theMass and Christ in the Eucharist - taken away fromus. But we can use thismoment, however, to joinwith others around the world for whom this is normal - like China in the days of King David. The King had sinned and plague swept through the land for three days. It was about to strike Jerusalemwhen the Lord halted the Angel who was bringing the plague “by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite” (2 Sam 24:16). We may smile at a plague which only lasts three days when we have begun isolat- ing ourselves for an indefinite period to stop the spread of a deadly disease in our day. I have read this story sever- al times in the past, but only now have I begun to wonder at the meaning of the strange detail about the threshing floor. And then there is the more urgent question, where is Araunah’s Threshing Floor for us? How will this end? A threshing floor is a space for where farmers used to (they use machines now) take the grain harvest after reaping and remove the grains to be ground (in the case of wheat) into flour for bread. We are told that after the plague on Israel, David bought Araunah’s threshing floor and erected an altar to God upon it. After David’s death his son Solomon became King and built the Temple of Jerusalem on the same site. This temple was the only place where it was lawful to offer sacrifice. The temple’s sacrifice was wholly replaced by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (and the temple itself was soon after- wards destroyed). Now our Lord’s sacrifice is made pres- ent again for us at each Mass, when the Body and Blood of Christ are offered up under the appearances of Bread and Wine. The meaning of the tem- ple’s location becomes clear. From the very beginning the sacrifice in the temple was a type for the true and perfect Sacrifice of the Cross which is made present for us again at every Mass. In the words of the Council of Trent the Mass is a re-pre- sentation (note that hyphen) of the Sacrifice of Cavalry for us even though we are far re- moved from it in space and time. This is why it makes sense that, even though it’s better to be at Mass, if we can’t be pres- ent for good reason we can be present by uniting ourselves mentally to any Mass that is going on at the same time. It is true that there is a bit- ter irony that today’s plague, which came frommainland China, has spread so far be- cause of the pride and brutal- ity of the gangsters in charge of the People’s Republic of China. In order to combat the plague our country, like so many others, has adopt- ed policies to prevent public worship which are eerily sim- ilar to those of Communist China. We now get to share in a small way with our fellow Catholics in China who have been progressively deprived of the right to practise the Faith. By no means evade the re- strictions on public gather- ings so that you can attend Mass. By staying away, when the Bishops urge us to do so, we can join (in a smaller way) all those Catholics who have been prevented by arbitrary power from joining in the Church’s public worship. Learn how to unite yourself spiritually to any Mass which is being celebrated right now. Be happy that you can get a small taste of, and join, the sufferings of your fellow Cath- olics. And when this trial passes, and you can go to Mass again, make sure never to forget what it is like to have the Mass taken from you. Thomas Flynn lectures in Latin and Greek and tutors inTheology at Campion College We now get to share in a small way with our fellowCatholics in China who have been progressively deprived of the right to practise the Faith ... never for- get [having] the Mass taken away ...” George Weigel Columnist Then-Pope John Paul II is shown in one of former papal photographer Arturo Mari’s famous photos celebrating his final international World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/ARTURO MARI Thomas Flynn Columnist