THE P RTAL
April 2015
Australia Pages - page 9
From Australia’s Ordinary
T
he Church’s
season of Lent is when we are called to reflect on the temptations of Australia
Jesus and the events leading to his last encounter with the Jewish and Roman authorities Pages
which appeared to end with his crucifixion. Yet, as his story unfolds, his crucifixion was not the
end, but the turning point for a new beginning.
Here is a man who was faithful to the mission
given to him by his heavenly Father, but in living that
mission he was tempted to abandon it, was humiliated,
misrepresented, flogged and crucified. From a human
perspective, he hit rock bottom, but because he remained
faithful to his Father’s will, he was raised up as ‘the first
fruits of those who sleep.’ [1 Corinthians 15:20]. The
shape of Jesus’ life is rather like the first letter of his name.
It is J-shaped, a life ‘struck down’ by God, but then new
life emerges, life given by the God who redeems.
If you wish to deepen your understanding of what
happens to Jesus in his passion, perhaps this Lent you
should read the stories of some of the J-shaped people
who share a spiritual genetic similarity, not only with
each other, but with Jesus himself.
On the day of Jesus’ resurrection, he joined two of his
disciples who were walking home in a dejected state to
Emmaus. The disciples were trying to make sense of
the events that had just taken place in Jerusalem. Their
hopes had been shattered. They were confused and
distressed. How could they make sense of what had
happened to Jesus, who they thought was the Messiah?
In asking ourselves the question, ‘Who am I?’ we
are trying to discover our identity. Nowadays we are
told to look inwards and find ourselves in the depths
of ourselves. That process may tell us some things, but
to discover a fuller picture we have to look back and
see where we have come from. We look at our family
history to try to find answers and fill those persistent
‘holes’ in our memories which will not remain silent.
Jesus explained everything to them beginning with
Moses and the Prophets. So if we wish to understand
Jesus’ story with more clarity, we too must look to the
Old Testament where we find the story of God’s dealings
with his people, leading them to salvation. We will also
discover that, within this broad story, there are stories
of God’s encounter with individuals who have also
experienced being knocked down, often traumatically,
but whose lives have been turned around.
Not all of them, but some of them, have names like
Jesus that begin with the letter J. There is Joel, Jacob,
Joshua, Joseph, Jonah, Job and Jeremiah. In his book
‘Just like Him’ (1989), Bishop Michael Marshall
observes that they have many common traits. They are
weak men, full of contradiction and have been made
strong and single-minded. They are outcasts, called in
out of the cold to become agents of God as God’s plan
of salvation unfolded.
But there is another story that doesn’t so much run
parallel with the stories of the biblical characters and
the story of Jesus, as being intertwined with them. This
story is our individual story.
As Christians, we also need to look at our own
personal spiritual journey, but to understand it we have
to look back at those who have gone before us. These
include those who introduced us to the faith as well as
the figures in Scripture and the Saints of the Church.
Read their encounters with God and see if we can
resonate with their experience. What do we see in them
that we recognise in ourselves? With the exception of
Jesus, most of those whose stories are found in the
bible were flawed, as were many of the Saints.
Some were liars, others deceivers, manipulators,
cowards, persecutors, impulsive, spiritual traitors.
Yet God chose them. We can learn from them, and
through them understand the story of Jesus at a deeper
level. Flowing from that, we will understand more
clearly the family likeness we share with them and
how God has chosen us, fills us with his grace and, if
we are willing, allow ourselves to be the agents of Jesus
These J-shaped men were unjustly put down, but then in sharing with others the story of God’s salvation.
raised up beyond our imagination. Their self-centredness was crushed and they began to live for others, loving
‘So this is the will of my Father who sent me:
God and living a grace-filled life. They are passionate
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in
people who seemed to be constantly out of their depth
him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up
suffering terrible experiences, but somehow didn’t go
on the last day.’ John 6:40
under. At that point their lives are reversed and they are
Mgr Harry Entwistle, PA
raised up. They are undoubtedly J-shaped people.
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