CHRIST IN THE TOMB

Hans Holbein the Younger - "The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb" - 1521–1522
Kunstmuseum Basel

Matthew 27:57-61

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

Holbein's painting is a horrifying view of Christ's dead body entombed. Nevertheless, it compels my attention, even as it repels me and causes me to want to turn away. Rather than being wrapped in the linen cloth, the corpus lies on the cloth. What could an artist make of a wrapped body as the focal point of a painting?



Stripped altar at St John's

Collect of the Day: Holy Saturday

O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so may we await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I'm waiting, but not patiently.

ABOUT "TRUMP"

From a correspondent:

OED - the meanings of the word "trump" with which I was raised in the English NW:

Trump n 1 e. "The act of breaking wind audibly."

Trump v 1 b. "To give forth a trumpet-like sound; spec. to break wind audibly."

Pretty appropriate?

ARCHBISHOP ROWAN WRITES TO LULU

From the Telegraph:

There’s a charming article in today’s Times by Alex Renton, a non-believer who sends his six-year-old daughter Lulu to a Scottish church primary school. Her teachers asked her to write the following letter: “To God, How did you get invented?”

Instead of answering Lulu's question, Renton emailed the letter to "the Scottish Episcopal Church (no reply), the Presbyterians (ditto) and the Scottish Catholics (a nice but theologically complex answer). For good measure, he also sent it to...Lambeth Palace”.

Lulu received the following response from Lambeth:

Dear Lulu,

Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It’s a difficult one! But I think God might reply a bit like this –

‘Dear Lulu – Nobody invented me – but lots of people discovered me and were quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it came from. They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn’t expected.

Then they invented ideas about me – some of them sensible and some of them not very sensible. From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I’m really like.

But there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. Rather like somebody who writes a story in a book, I started making up the story of the world and eventually invented human beings like you who could ask me awkward questions!’

And then he’d send you lots of love and sign off.

I know he doesn’t usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on his behalf. Lors [sic] of love from me too.

+Archbishop Rowan

How kind of Archbishop Rowan to write such a lovely and theologically simple response to Lulu.

Thanks to Ann and Cathy for the link.

"IT'S CURTAINS FOR JESUS"

Please leave comments of praise or blame at Of Course I Could Be Wrong.... Thank you. :-)

GOOD FRIDAY - "ECCE HOMO"

CARAVAGGIO - "Ecce Homo" - Palazzo Rosso, Genoa

John 19:5

So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’

Isaiah 53:1-5

Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.

Caravaggio is one of my many favorite painters. When I walk into a museum gallery with one or more of his paintings on the walls, my eyes are immediately drawn to them, and I catch my breath. The dramatic contrast of light and shade is stunning.

In the comments to my blog friend Counterlight's excellent post on the artist, I said to him, "All through looking at the paintings and reading your commentary, I thought, 'Incarnation. Incarnation.' That's one of Caravaggio's great gifts to us in religious painting."

However true that may be, it's not surprising that the obvious eroticism in certain of the artist's paintings on religious subjects drew rather heavy criticism his way. Caravaggio died at the young age of 38. Considering his short life as a painter, his legacy is extraordinary.

Collect of the Day: Good Friday

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

MAUNDY THURSDAY - THE LAST SUPPER

GADDI, Agnolo - "The Last Supper" - c. 1395 - Tempera on wood
Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg

1 Cor 11:23-26

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

For several years I posted Dali's "The Sacrament of the Last Supper" on Maundy Thursday. I love the painting, but I wanted to go in a different direction this year. I chose Gaddi's painting shown above. I love the 14th century Italian version, too, with its lovely colors and gold leaf, and Jesus and his Apostles pressed together in the intimacy of the scene as painted by Gaddi.

Collect of the Day: Maundy Thursday

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

FRONTLINE'S "THE SILENCE"

Did you watch PBS Frontline's "The Silence" on child abuse last night? I did, and it was one of the most difficult shows to for me to sit through ever. The show focuses on years of abuse committed by a Roman Catholic priest, Fr George Endal, and a "volunteer", Joseph Lundowski, on Native American children in the small village of St Michael in Alaska. I wanted to turn away from the horrifying stories of the abuse by the adults who suffered at the hands of the two men when they were children. To say I was shaken is an understatement.

"I was just a kid," Ben Andrews tells FRONTLINE of the years of abuse he suffered at the hands of Father George Endal and Joseph Lundowski, a layman who was training to be a deacon. "Father Endal and Joseph Lundowski, they couldn't stop molesting me once they started. It was almost an everyday thing. Father Endal kept telling me that it would make me closer to God."

"I'm still having nightmares of Joseph Lundowski molesting, having sex with me," says Peter "Packy" Kobuk. "I get up sweating, angry, feel like I could hurt somebody, but I never meaned [sic] to get angry at my children, but the anger went on my children also."

Since some of the victims of abuse have not come forward, no one knows the number of children who were molested over the years, but the estimate is as high as 80% of the children in the small village.

After the litigation settlement, when he was free to talk to the survivors, the present bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks, Donald Kettler, finally met with the group of people in St Michael who had come forward. When he heard the stories and saw their suffering, he seemed to grasp the grave harm done to the people. In some cases, the abuse continued into the next generation, as those who were abused, abused their own children.

Ben Andrews told of the occasion when he told his father of the molestation. His father beat him, went out and got drunk, came home and grabbed a gun which he pointed at his wife, and shot and killed another son who was standing near his mother. Ben sees himself as responsible for his brother's death because he told his father about the abuse.

What a wrenching 30 minutes! If you have the stomach for it, you can watch the segment from the link above.

Endal and Lundowski were not the only representatives of the RC Church who were molesters. It seems that the Diocese of Fairbanks may have been one of the chosen locations to send priests who had been in been in trouble elsewhere for abuse of children and young people.

Lord, have mercy! I know that other denominations, including my own, have their share of clergy who abused children, but the appalling policy of the RCC of covering up to protect the institution, rather than moving to protect the children, allowed widespread abuse to take place over so many years.

A TEST DRIVE? NO THANK YOU

Canon Alan Perry, who blogs at Insert Catchy Blog Title Here, and is a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada, has written a remarkable series of in-depth posts on the proposed Anglican Covenant. His latest is titled Test Driving the Anglican Covenant – Part 1. It is excellent.

I believe that I'd rather not test drive the proposed covenant. After reading Alan's recent post and his earlier posts parsing the document, I'll take Alan's word for it that the covenant will very likely solve nothing and will rather exacerbate the frustration and anger experienced by certain members of the churches in the Anglican Communion.

In Alan's next to last post, titled Yes, Virginia, There is an Alternative, he punches enough holes in the TINA ("There is no alternative.") excuse for adopting the covenant to turn it into a sieve. See for yourself.

EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF COLORADO SAYS NO TO THE COVENANT

Members of the Diocese of Colorado’s General Convention Deputation have accepted and faithfully engaged Executive Council’s invitation to study, pray and discuss with members of our diocese the proposed Anglican Covenant. In addition to our own conversations as a deputation, we listened to others in congregations and in other contexts throughout the diocese, and these conversations also inform our understanding of the proposed covenant and this response. Our fellowship with each other and our desire to be in relationship with sisters and brothers in Christ in other parts of the Anglican Communion have been strengthened by our study and discussions. We give thanks for the collaborative work of the committees and writing teams who have created the successive drafts of the proposed Anglican Covenant.

Based on our engagement with the text and with each other, our deputation (with one exception) has concluded that adoption of the proposed covenant would not strengthen our relationships within the Anglican Communion or foster our witness to God’s transforming love in the world. We, therefore, recommend to Executive Council that The Episcopal Church encourage members of the Anglican Communion to persevere in strengthening relationships through ongoing conversation and living into those covenants that already bind us in missio dei – the Baptismal Covenant, the Five Marks of Mission and the Millennium Development Goals - while refraining from adoption of the final draft of the proposed Anglican Covenant.

Our concerns with the final draft of the proposed Anglican Covenant
include the following:

· The idea for a covenant arose out of the Windsor Report in response to the actions of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada regarding consecration of a partnered gay bishop and same gender blessings. However, the proposed covenant provides no means of reconciling the relationships broken by responses to those actions. Instead it offers a punitive Section 4 that proposes relational consequences that formalize separation and suspension from participation in the life of the Communion. One member of our deputation suggests that this is an example of proffering a legalistic solution to remedy a relationship problem. Another deputy asks, “How would the events of 2003 have turned out differently had such an Anglican Covenant been in place then?”

· The Preamble acknowledges that signatories adopt the covenant “in order to proclaim more effectively in our different contexts the grace of God.” However, Section 4 directly contravenes the Preamble by promulgating disciplinary procedures that do not respect those different contexts. The polity of the provinces in the Anglican Communion varies widely, and Section 4.1.3 affirms the “autonomy of governance” of each province.

· Section 3.1.3 elevates “the historic threefold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons, ordained for service in the Church of God” into ministry leadership above the laity, which is contradictory to The Episcopal Church’s theological understanding of the ministry of all the baptized, including the laity who share in the governance and leadership of the Church.

· Section 3.1.4 codifies The Four Instruments of Communion and their powers in a new way that is not in alignment with how they are perceived, received and understood by all provinces of the Anglican Communion.

· Some experience the proposed self-description of Anglicanism (Sections 1-3) as "too Anglican" while others experience it as "too generically Christian." This confusion about how a particularly Anglican understanding of Christianity fits within a general understanding of Christianity may undermine the integrity of
ecumenical relationships. Moreover, if the proposed covenant accurately describes Anglicanism's self-understanding, why is it necessary? If, on the other hand, it does not accurately describe our self-understanding, then how is it helpful? And does it not then fundamentally change who we are?

· The broad authority proposed for the Standing Committee of the covenant suggests the “covenant” is really a “contract.” The grace and beauty of the Anglican Communion has always been the voluntary fellowship of provinces bound together by affection. Covenants in the biblical tradition are about relationship, identity, and
transformation, and are rooted in models of shared abundance (Eucharistic fellowship). On the other hand, contracts are merely transactions or exchanges for mutual benefit. Contractual arrangements fall short of our vocation to love one another as we have been loved by God.

The Colorado deputation affirms the need to maintain and deepen fellowship within the Anglican Communion as well as within The Episcopal Church. Our relationships are troubled and the members of the Anglican Communion are not of one mind about how to reconcile and restore our relationships. Some would even diagnose the Anglican Communion as a global entity as being profoundly fractured, our relationships ruptured, and our attention to missio dei compromised. Precisely for these reasons, we must work to intensify our relationships across the communion through engagement with the promises we have already made to care for one another.

All of us must continue to seek ways to connect our Anglican identity and relationships to God’s mission for the Church. Some believe it is incumbent upon those opposed to this version of the covenant to propose alternative, clear, realistic and definitive strategies by which this global family can weather and address the divergent theological and ecclesial realities in the Anglican Communion.

We look forward to continuing to walk together with all our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion and give thanks for our fellowship.

General Convention Deputation of the Diocese of Colorado

IN MEMORIAM - ONE YEAR LATER

The New Orleans Times-Picayune posted pictures of the 11 men who died in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon well in their print edition, but I can't find the pictures online. However, the men have names:

James Anderson - 35 - Drill supervisor - Married, father of two - Bay City, Texas

Aaron Dale Burkeen - 37 Crane operator - Married, father of two - Philadelphia, Mississippi

Donald Clark - 49 - Assistant driller - Married - Newelton, Louisiana

Stephen Ray Curtis - 39 - Married, father of two - Georgetown, Louisiana

Gordon Jones - 28 - Mud engineer - Married, father of two - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Roy Wyatt Kemp - 27 - Roughneck - Married, father of two - Jonesville, Louisiana

Karl Kepplinger, Jr - 38 - Mud pit worker - Married, father of one - Natchez, Mississippi

Blair Manuel - 56 - Chemical engineer - Engaged, father of three, Gonzales, Louisiana

Dewey Revette - 48 - Oil driller - Married, father of two - State Line, Mississippi

Shane Rosto - 22 - Floor hand - Married, father of one - Liberty, Mississippi

Adam Weise - 24 - Floor hand - Single - Yorktown, Texas

Father of all, we pray to you for those we love, but see no longer: Grant them your peace; let light perpetual shine upon them; and, in your loving wisdom and almighty power, work in them the good purpose of your perfect will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, Father of mercies and giver of comfort: Deal graciously, we pray, with all who mourn; that, casting all their care on you, they may know the consolation of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And the oil? It's still there.



Photo from NOLA.com.

Picture at the head of the post from Wikipedia.