CowPi Journal

There is a new group weblog starting up called the Catholic Catechism Dialogue Blog. The purpose of this weblog is to open a forum for reflection and discussion on the CCC by a group of Catholic contributing writers, of which I am fortunate to be a member. The plan is to read through the Catechism within a year. (That only amounts to roughly eight paragraphs a day.)

The Catechism is a treasure of wisdom, practicality, history, reflection, and devotion based on Scripture and Tradition. Come join us on this leg of the journey.

Jesus at the Tomb by Jean Jacques Henner

Jesus is stripped of His garments.

At the end of the long, crueling walk through the streets and crowds, out the city gates and up the hill of Golgatha under the weight of the heavy Cross, Jesus stands alone one last time before His moment of glory. The soldiers hastily remove his clothing, reopening the bloody wounds that had begun to dry. The last vestige of the world is removed from His body. Jesus stands before us in His poverty, about to give the last thing He can claim to have.

To become human means to become “poor,” to have nothing that one might brag before God. To become human means to have no support and no power, save the enthusiasm and committment of one’s own heart [by grace]. Becoming human involves proclaiming the poverty of the human spirit in the face of the total claims of a transendent God. (Johannes Baptist Metz, Poverty of Spirit)

Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Like you, we too will have to face our poverty before God. Because we are weak, we dare not face our own poverty. We turn to sin and away from You. Please forgive us. But You give us strength to face our destiny to be human through Your Cross. We are poor, but with You, we have everything. Thank you Lord. We love You. Amen.

This post is a part of the Via Crucis Grid Blog for this Holy Week. Find others to read and pray, #9, #10, and #11.

Julie had a copy of this painting at right in a post yesterday. It is called “Quod Est Veritas?” (What is truth?) by Nikolas Gay, 1890. Notice how the light is shining on Pilate and Jesus is in the shadows. My first thought was that it should be the other way around, but it’s not. How intriguing. But, as Fr. Stephanos pointed out, Pilate is looking at the light. Hmmmm…

From Pilate’s point of view, he is standing in the light. He understands the ways and truth of the world, and to him, Jesus does not. To Pilate, Jesus is the one in the dark. Pilate thinks he stands as the one in control, the one with the power.

Pilate’s upward palm is the center of the painting. It stands as a platform between the two men, between the world and heaven. The question, “What is truth?” is the pivotal, paradoxical, point. It is a moment of motion, movement, transition. At first, Pilate thinks he knows the answer and is offering it to Jesus. His fingers are spread out almost as if to fling the “truth” at Jesus. But in the pause, oh the golden silence of the pause, a kairos moment, a moment of doubt and uncertainty enters the picture. Pilate shifts from offering the truth to waiting to receive the truth. He begins to realize he does not know the truth. Truth personified in Jesus is standing right in front of him and he does not, cannot see it. Pilate is standing in the Light, not the light of the world but the Light of Truth.

Jesus stands in silence, not in defiance, but just there. Here is Truth if only Pilate and the world could see. Jesus is the one with the power and the control, but he does not have to wield it.

The moment shifts to Pilate’s feet. His posture is half-turned. He is caught between turning toward God and Truth, or toward the world. A moment of grace. Jesus freely gives Pilate the choice. Which way to turn?