Intercessions ~ First Sunday of Lent

Zarvanytsia Mother of God ~ Ukraine

May those who hold the destiny of the world in their hands/ be people of light and life./ May they be reconciling healers,/ stable,/ godly people of good conscience and generous spirit./ We pray to the Lord.

May we be delivered from thinking/ that our national greatness is determined by our capacity to destroy others./ We pray to the Lord.

Tuesday is International Women's Day./ We pray for the women of Ukraine and in every place where women struggle against great odds to safeguard their families./ We pray for women whose gifts have not yet been fully valued and encouraged./ For the young girls of the world to be welcomed and loved./ We pray to the Lord.

During wars the earth itself is abused./ There are new bombs that suck the oxygen out of the air to expand the blast,/ the soil and air are filled with poisons,/ trees and fields are burned,/ animals are displaced and killed,/ earth's resources are wasted./ May God forgive and correct our terribly wrong thinking./ We pray to the Lord.

The Dali Lama,/ the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism,/ has said, "War it outdated."/ May we learn finally,/ after the devastating wars of the last century,/ how to talk to each other,/ to solve problems and address concerns./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the one million refugees who have fled Ukraine this week./ They are mostly women and children./ For those who cannot leave:/ the poor,/ the sick,/ the elderly,/ the homeless./ We pray for the many hundreds who have died — mindful that even little children and teenagers have lost their lives./ Deliver us from the evil and sin of war./ We pray to the Lord.

Lent is called the Church's Springtime./ May we grow into the mind of Christ:/ Roman Catholic,/ Protestant,/ Orthodox./  Wars perpetrated by Christians reveal a great shame./ May we be delivered and converted./ We pray to the Lord.

The Difficult Journey ~ 1890

                 

This painting is titled simply, "The Difficult Journey." But it is Joseph and pregnant Mary on their way to Bethlehem where Jesus will be born. Fritz von Uhde incurred harsh criticism for taking the ancient biblical accounts and depicting them as contemporary events. Indeed, the meaning of the Gospels is forever and every where. 

I am thinking of those who are already furious that there are plans to change some aspects of the interior of Notre Dame in Paris so that the cathedral can proclaim a contemporary message to the millions of non-believing tourists who pour through it annually. "The Church is not a museum of antiques to be preserved but a flourishing garden of life to be cultivated." Pope John XXIII said.

The census rule of the occupying Roman Empire required each family to return to their place of origin to be counted. This young family is walking a muddy road. It is a hazy, damp morning. Mary carries a basket with some little food supplies. Joseph is so solicitous of Mary who needs support. He has his carpenter tools with him—a hand saw strapped to his backpack. The house up the road on the left might be the start of the small village where they will spend the night.

Are you thinking of the young families fleeing Kyiv (Kiev), carrying what they can, ahead of the bombs and shells being thrown into their beautiful city. Fleeing the chaos, husbands escort their wives and the small children to trains headed west. They then return to the city to fight off the invaders. What sad news images. 

Perhaps the church-congregation sings the beautiful song Bernadette Farrell has composed: Christ be our light. The verses are so apt for these days and as we consider this remarkable painting at the start of another of Lent. 

Click here to listen to Chris Brunelle sing this song.

Lent with Fritz von Uhde begins tomorrow

 

Lent begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday and as is our custom here, for forty days we'll travel the Lenten way reflecting on the paintings of a great artist. This year I'm happy about having discovered Fritz von Uhde, a German artist who lived from 1848-1911. We can scroll back over the past few weeks and find posts which introduce him to us. 

But as a bit of a tease today, this painting, Cuisine à la Cheminée (Cooking with the Fireplace) might stir our interest. Fritz von  Uhde didn't paint great battle scenes. He didn't paint landscapes or still life bowls of fruit or vases of flowers. He painted ordinary people going about their everyday tasks. This is called genre painting.  He was criticized for this—the subject matter considered unworthy. He was also criticized for painting biblical scenes which had become rather "uncool." His style of painting is  said to reflect a tension between naturalism and impressionism.

Here is a poor girl, likely having just fallen out of the bed we see in the upper right corner. I get the feeling the sun isn't even up yet. There's a machette like tool nearby she uses to chop kindling to get the morning fire going. She's got her head in the heavily blackened fireplace. She looks kind of sooty herself—unwashed hands and face. She wears the drab clothing of the poor —has the left sleeve been replaced?  An iron pot sits on a stand to the left inside the fireplace (her kitchen). Does she live alone; are there others sleeping nearby?

In rural Ireland, it is said there are homes where the hearth fire has been kept alive for centuries. The fireplace being the centerpiece of family life—where the house is warmest, where food is prepared and family members gather. At night the alive embers are gathered up into a kind of pyramid, offering some heat, and in the morning they are spread out, new wood is added as fuel and the flame is revived. For centuries!

At Baptism we were each given a lighted candle—the flame taken from the Pascal (Easter) Candle. With the handing off of the light we and our families were instructed.

Receive the Light of Christ. Parents and Godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly. These children of yours have been enlightened by Christ. They are to walk always as  children of the light. May they keep the flame of faith alive in their hearts and when the Lord Jesus comes again, may they go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.

Many of us have no idea where that candle went. Perhaps it burned down over the years if we kept the anniversary of our Baptism. Or maybe it was hidden away in an attic box and is now lost. But symbolically we all carry it still.  Now, another Lent is here. My hope is that by reflecting on the forty paintings of Fritz von Uhde we might find nourished the Christ-flame entrusted to us.

If you scroll down to the very bottom of this Pauca Verba page you will find a simple subscription form so the paintings and their reflections will come to you via email each day. May your Lent be blessed.