Tag: Jesus

All Hail the Lamb

detail from : Adoration of the mystic lamb, from the altar-piece of Ghent Cathedral
Belgium. [photographed by Mr G.

The Ghent Altarpiece

In the early 15 century two Flemish brothers, Hubert and Jan van Eyck produced one of the great masterpieces of western art: the Ghent altarpiece known as The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. It is a multi-panel painting that can be displayed both open and closed, revealing different scenes and levels of detail. When closed, the altarpiece primarily displays the Annunciation, while opening it reveals the intricate and vibrant “Adoration of the Mystic Lamb” scene.

Although of outstanding artistic and religious significance it is surrounded by controversy and speculation, not only from art historians but theologians as well. It is currently undergoing a time of restoration and research which is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

In total the altar piece is constructed from 18 separate panels. Its main panel depicts the Lamb of God on an altar set in an expansive landscape surrounded by figures in various groups. These include Old Testament judges, Knights of Christ, holy pilgrims and holy hermits; saints of both the Old and New Testaments. Above this lower central panel there is a depiction of God, with Mary to the left and John the Baptist to the right. In turn, they are flanked by the figures of Adam and Eve.
The Altarpiece was completed in 1432 and it is a truly great work of art; one of the most influential paintings ever painted.
The panels depict biblical scenes as well as a portrait of Joos Vijd who commissioned it and his wife Elisabeth Borluut.

At the heart of the painting is the Mystic Lamb, seen on the central altar. It symbolizes Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made for humanity. From a wound on its chest, blood pours into a chalice which represents Christ’s sacrifice and its commemoration in the Eucharist.
Around the altar, in various groups are gathered those who gaze on the Lamb in adoration. The Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist are contrasted with the figures of Adam and Eve with a depiction of God in the panel above that of the Lamb.

The painting has had quite a difficult life and has been described as the most stolen piece of art in history. It has also been hidden when iconoclasts and others would have preferred to destroy it.
On the morning of 11 April 1934, Ghent woke up to news of a disaster. Two panels of the Altarpiece, ‘The Just Judges’ and ‘John the Baptist’ had been stolen from St Bavo’s Cathedral! This daring theft has grown to become one of the most fascinating art robberies of the 20th century. It remains unsolved. The panel of John the Baptist was returned later anonymously but that of the ‘Just Judges’ remains at large! There is a hope that it will be found in due course, meanwhile a copy takes its place.
As if that wasn’t enough the painting was stolen by the Nazi’s in 1940. Hitler wanted to establish a museum of culture in his home town of Linz. Whilst plans for the building were completed, the painting, along with many others, was kept safely in a salt mine in Austria, which also guaranteed its preservation.
When the Allied troops were getting near, there was a plan to dynamite the salt mine but such a disaster for the art heritage of the world was averted by the residents who lived near the mine.

Today, the Altarpiece has its own chapel in the Cathedral where it can be viewed freely. It is an amazing work of art but it is much more.
For the believer, there is a strong sense of being led into adoration not just of the painting itself but of the resurrection it signifies.~The Lamb is one of the powerful symbols of Easter not only because lambs are themselves signs of new life at this time of year, but also because in Christian art, the Lamb depicts Christ Jesus, risen from the dead and glorified.
As I sat before the painting, in contemplation, the only response I could make was to be still and pray, giving thanks for all that God in the Risen Jesus has given to me – and the unstoppable and unconditional love through which He saves and redeems me and you.

In Christian symbolism, the lamb represents Jesus, “the lamb of God” (agnus Dei). (Jn 1:29, Rev 5:12) Standing with a banner, the lamb represents the risen Christ triumphant over death. Standing with a cross and a gash in its side, it symbolizes the passion of Christ. Seated on a throne or a book, the lamb represents the judgment of Christ. Because the lamb is humble, gentle, and innocent, lambs are often engraved on the tombstones of children.

Paschal triumph, Easter joy,
Only sin can this destroy;
From sin’s death do thou set free,
Souls re-born, dear Lord, in thee.
Hymns of glory, songs of praise,
Father, unto thee we raise.
Risen Lord, all praise to thee,
Ever with the Spirit be.

{final verse of the hymn : At the Lamb’s High Feast we sing}

[Mr G] Easter Friday 2025

Pope Francis speaks to us before Jesus takes him to heaven

*John Dugdale, Christ the liberator. Morton St NYC*

Pope Francis’ Easter Message 2025

Christ is risen, alleluia!

Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!

Today at last, the singing of the “alleluia” is heard once more in the Church, passing from mouth to mouth, from heart to heart, and this makes the people of God throughout the world shed tears of joy.
From the empty tomb in Jerusalem, we hear unexpected good news: Jesus, who was crucified, “is not here, he has risen” (Lk 24:5). Jesus is not in the tomb, he is alive!
Love has triumphed over hatred, light over darkness and truth over falsehood. Forgiveness has triumphed over revenge. Evil has not disappeared from history; it will remain until the end, but it no longer has the upper hand; it no longer has power over those who accept the grace of this day.

Sisters and brothers, especially those of you experiencing pain and sorrow, your silent cry has been heard and your tears have been counted; not one of them has been lost! In the passion and death of Jesus, God has taken upon himself all the evil in this world and in his infinite mercy has defeated it. He has uprooted the diabolical pride that poisons the human heart and wreaks violence and corruption on every side. The Lamb of God is victorious! That is why, today, we can joyfully cry out: “Christ, my hope, has risen!” (Easter Sequence).
The resurrection of Jesus is indeed the basis of our hope. For in the light of this event, hope is no longer an illusion. Thanks to Christ — crucified and risen from the dead — hope does not disappoint! + Spes non confundit! (cf. Rom 5:5). That hope is not an evasion, but a challenge; it does not delude, but empowers us.
All those who put their hope in God place their feeble hands in his strong and mighty hand; they let themselves be raised up and set out on a journey. Together with the risen Jesus, they become pilgrims of hope, witnesses of the victory of love and of the disarmed power of Life.
Christ is risen! These words capture the whole meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death but for life. Easter is the celebration of life! God created us for life and wants the human family to rise again! In his eyes, every life is precious! The life of a child in the mother’s womb, as well as the lives of the elderly and the sick, who in more and more countries are looked upon as people to be discarded.

What a great thirst for death, for killing, we witness each day in the many conflicts raging in different parts of our world! How much violence we see, often even within families, directed at women and children! How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants!
On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas! For all of us are children of God!

I would like us to renew our hope that peace is possible! From the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of the Resurrection, where this year Easter is being celebrated by Catholics and Orthodox on the same day, may the light of peace radiate throughout the Holy Land and the entire world. I express my closeness to the sufferings of Christians in Palestine and Israel, and to all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. The growing climate of anti-Semitism throughout the world is worrisome. Yet at the same time, I think of the people of Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation. I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace!

Let us pray for the Christian communities in Lebanon and in Syria, presently experiencing a delicate transition in its history. They aspire to stability and to participation in the life of their respective nations. I urge the whole Church to keep the Christians of the beloved Middle East in its thoughts and prayers.
I also think in particular of the people of Yemen, who are experiencing one of the world’s most serious and prolonged humanitarian crises because of war, and I invite all to find solutions through a constructive dialogue.

May the risen Christ grant Ukraine, devastated by war, his Easter gift of peace, and encourage all parties involved to pursue efforts aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace.

On this festive day, let us remember the South Caucasus and pray that a final peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan will soon be signed and implemented, and lead to long-awaited reconciliation in the region.
May the light of Easter inspire efforts to promote harmony in the western Balkans and sustain political leaders in their efforts to allay tensions and crises, and, together with their partner countries in the region, to reject dangerous and destabilizing actions.
May the risen Christ, our hope, grant peace and consolation to the African peoples who are victims of violence and conflict, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Sudan and South Sudan. May he sustain those suffering from the tensions in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region, as well as those Christians who in many places are not able freely to profess their faith.

There can be no peace without freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of others.
Nor is peace possible without true disarmament! The requirement that every people provide for its own defence must not turn into a race to rearmament. The light of Easter impels us to break down the barriers that create division and are fraught with grave political and economic consequences. It impels us to care for one another, to increase our mutual solidarity, and to work for the integral development of each human person.

During this time, let us not fail to assist the people of Myanmar, plagued by long years of armed conflict, who, with courage and patience, are dealing with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Sagaing, which caused the death of thousands and great suffering for the many survivors, including orphans and the elderly. We pray for the victims and their loved ones, and we heartily thank all the generous volunteers carrying out the relief operations. The announcement of a ceasefire by various actors in the country is a sign of hope for the whole of Myanmar.

I appeal to all those in positions of political responsibility in our world not to yield to the logic of fear which only leads to isolation from others, but rather to use the resources available to help the needy, to fight hunger and to encourage initiatives that promote development. These are the “weapons” of peace: weapons that build the future, instead of sowing seeds of death!
May the principle of humanity never fail to be the hallmark of our daily actions. In the face of the cruelty of conflicts that involve defenceless civilians and attack schools, hospitals and humanitarian workers, we cannot allow ourselves to forget that it is not targets that are struck, but persons, each possessed of a soul and human dignity.
In this Jubilee year, may Easter also be a fitting occasion for the liberation of prisoners of war and political prisoners!

Dear brothers and sisters,

In the Lord’s Paschal Mystery, death and life contended in a stupendous struggle, but the Lord now lives forever (cf. Easter Sequence). He fills us with the certainty that we too are called to share in the life that knows no end, when the clash of arms and the rumble of death will be heard no more. Let us entrust ourselves to him, for he alone can make all things new (cf. Rev. 21:5)!

Happy Easter to everyone!

+ Spes non confundit! (cf. Rom 5:5).

Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (NRSV)

Jesus in Gethsemane

[photo from Gill Henwood – of the area near the Black Mountains, Bhutan]

Jesus prays in Gethsemane

On the night of his betrayal, Jesus took his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane, near the Mount of Olives. He asked them to pray for themselves and then went to a place by himself. He prayed to his Father that he might be released from the trial and crucifixion ahead of him. But he also prayed that his Father’s will should prevail. The humanity of Jesus cried out and his anguish caused his sweat to fall like drops of blood. An angel from heaven came to strengthen him. His disciples were fast asleep. Then the Roman soldiers came to the garden to arrest him…. (St Luke’s Gospel Chapter 22: 39-53)

Gethsemane

This is his Passion.
Darkness wraps around his very being,
not a warming cloak but a shroud.
Silence, punctured by friends
snoring off the wellbeing of food,
minds sloshed with wine.
Alone with the shivers of the night,
everything in him protests.

Sometimes, when we know our destiny,
our minds close.
Not this! No! Never!
But our hearts are our undoing:
our resolve begins; ends there.
So he battles with his need to say ‘Yes’,
for himself, for others,
for us.
How else can the world know what it is to be loved?

Kneeling on the damp ground,
tense, numb,
scared, uncertain, he waits.
And the Father waits too as demons and angels whirl,
stirring up the black air, a vortex of cosmic battle.
Below them, sweat drops as blood.
And still the Father waits, listening expectantly,
daring to hope…

God wrestling desperately with God
with everything – just everything – at stake.
This really is the Passion.
He sighs, deeply,
calm descends.
“Yes, let it be.”

The Father wraps his love around him
– and so too around us.

[Mr G. ]

Benji, the Palm Sunday donkey.

The Story Of The Palm Sunday Donkey by Joyce Smith

Four years ago, my friend Joyce wrote a little story about the Palm Sunday Donkey. It was specifically for the children of Ninefields Church of England School, near Waltham Abbey in Essex. Each child got a printed copy as a gift from Joyce. One or two others of us also got one. With Joyce’s permission, I was able to Blog it as an entry for March 28^th 2021. Sadly since then Joyce died unexpectedly and though some will have read the story, it’s worth repeating as I pause in prayer and remember a delightful person who understood more than most, what it means to be child-like.

[Mr G # Palm Sunday 2025]

It promised to be a hot and sunny day as the early morning sunlight played on the little donkey’s face. Benji lazily opened first one eye and then the other, but although the sunshine was warm on his face, he shivered a little and huddled closer to his mother. It was, after all, only yesterday that he had seen the old donkey who lived along the road being cruelly beaten by his master.
Benji’s mother gently nuzzled her son’s face and slowly licked one long ear followed by the other. Then, at the sound of their master’s voice, they trotted over to the edge of their field and had a long drink from the bucket of water he had brought for them, before turning to munch the hay which was piled up in the corner.

Even though their master was a kind man, Benji was still very frightened of the world outside his field and the scar on his mother’s back would always remind him of how cruel some people could be even to a donkey who had done nothing wrong. Sometimes, as Benji watched his mother carrying a person down the hill to the big city of Jerusalem, he could almost feel the pain of her scar and he longed to do something to help her. But the trouble was, whenever anybody asked for a ride on Benji, he was so frightened that he would begin to shake all over and no one wanted to ride him when he was like that. And so, in his short life, nobody had ever ridden on Benji’s back. But perhaps, just perhaps, today would be different……….

When Benji and his mother had finished eating, their master returned and, as he gently tickled their ears, he began to speak softly to them:

‘There will be lots of people going down to Jerusalem today
to celebrate the Feast of the Passover’ he said ‘and I think that
someone will need you to carry him today, Benji, so I’m going
to get you both ready and I want you to stand quietly for me by
the house.’

Then, using a long length of rope so that the donkeys could still graze from the grass, their master tied them to the trunk of a tree and they began to wait to see who might come by. They hadn’t been waiting long, however, when two men hurried towards the donkeys and, turning to their owner they said:

‘The Lord needs them’‘
That’s just fine’ said their master and as he untied Benji and his mother he whispered in their ears,
‘today will be your special day.’

The two men led the donkeys to the end of a dusty path and as they stood there, waiting, Benji turned his head and from where he was standing he could see right to the bottom of the big hill and all of the city of Jerusalem surrounded by big stone walls and lots of people, who looked as small as ants, hurrying around. Just then Benji’s gaze was arrested by a pile of rubbish outside the walls of the city and he began to tremble. He had often seen donkeys carrying rotting rubbish down to the tip and, sometimes, his mother told him, bad people were hung on crosses and killed there. At that thought, Benji shook even more, but just as he was beginning to feel so weak that he thought he would fall over, he felt a hand on his head and a gentle voice saying:

‘Not today, little donkey, not today; the rubbish tip’s not for today.
Don’t be afraid little donkey, today I want you to carry me.’

Benji turned his head and found himself looking into the most understanding man’s face he had ever seen and suddenly his shaking stopped and he felt strangely calm. Yes, he would be able to carry this man because he knew he understood and he gently nuzzled Jesus’ hand. While his friends put their coats on Benji’s back, Jesus gently patted the scar on the older donkey’s back and this time she didn’t wince as she normally did, but she too, gently rubbed her head against him.

When they were ready, Jesus climbed on Benji’s back and began to ride down the hill towards Jerusalem. To his surprise, with this man on his back, Benji suddenly felt quite strong and sure of himself. Somehow, being with Jesus, had taken away his scary feelings and now he really did feel that he could carry him all the way to Jerusalem. And Benji’s mother was just a few paces behind trotting along quite contentedly.
They hadn’t gone very far, however, when people started to come to the edge of the road and they began to cheer and wave palm branches as Jesus rode by on the little donkey. People even spread their cloaks and more palm branches on the ground so that Benji had a very soft road to walk on. People then began to shout:

‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest’

‘Yes, Jesus must be very special’ thought Benji, ‘ but I could have told all these people that from the moment he first spoke to me.’ And as he continued to trot down the road he, too, felt special and so happy.

But as we know, donkeys are very sensitive and after a little while, amidst all the cheering, Benji’s long ears began to pick up some whispers from people at the back of the crowd, people who said they didn’t like Jesus and even that they wanted to kill him. When he heard this, Benji began to shake again, but the man on his back gently patted him and said again; ‘Not today little donkey, not today.’
So, reassured once more, Benji trotted on right through a gate in the wall and into the city of Jerusalem, right up to the temple.

When they arrived there, Jesus jumped off Benji’s back, ‘ thank you, little donkey’ he said, ‘now you go back home with your mother and rest – well done little donkey, well done.’
Benji was so happy, he didn’t want to leave, but after rubbing Jesus’ arm with his muzzle one more, he turned and trotted back up the hill with his mother.

When he got home, he turned his head and looked at the city of Jerusalem once more and he wondered what Jesus was doing now. Then, as his gaze again took in the rubbish tip, a big tear rolled down his face and he heard that gentle voice saying ‘not today, not today, little donkey’ and he wondered what tomorrow might bring……

Joyce M Smith 2021