Easter Sunday Of The Resurrection Of The Lord

During the Easter Vigil, the Church reads the account of creation as a prophecy. In the Resurrection, we see the most sublime fulfilment of what this text describes as the beginning of all things. God says once again: ‘Let there be light!’ The Resurrection of Jesus is an eruption of light. Death is conquered, the tomb is thrown open. The Risen One himself is Light, the Light of the world. With the Resurrection, God’s light spreads throughout the world and throughout history. Day dawns. This Light alone – Jesus Christ – is the true light, something more than the physical phenomenon of light. He is pure Light: God himself, who causes a new creation to be born in the midst of the old, transforming chaos into cosmos”

Pope Benedict XVI, extract from introduction to the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night, from the CTS New Catholic Daily Missal 2012
3. Cosmic Cross. 130cm x 100cm Oil on Linen £8500

The true, pure Light, Jesus, is depicted beautifully in Terence’s painting ‘Cosmic Cross’. There are so many layers and so much symbolism in this piece from the Painting the Light series of paintings. I see the universe depicted in the deep blue circular background; the radiant light of the Cross with its reach spanning the universe, the different fragments of colour and the spheres of life in the background; the white circular centre of the the Cross could be interpreted as the Source; and if you are a Catholic Christian like us then you’ll see the significance of the ‘host’, which is the small circular wafer of bread which we receive as Jesus during the Mass; the overall radiance expresses Joy and Soul Harmony and Vibrant Peace. It shows Life as Light.

What do you see?

Holy Saturday Meditation

On Holy Saturday, the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb in prayer and fasting, meditating on his Passion and Death and on his Descent into Hell, and awaiting his Resurrection.

The painting ‘Christ in Hell’ gives us a perfect visual for our meditation. At first glance, it may be disturbing to you, as it was to me when I first saw his painting all those years ago. But that is exactly why this is such a powerful piece.

What happened to Jesus after he died on the cross? This is Terence’s interpretation. It is a triptych and this is the Central Panel.

81. Christ in Hell (central panel) signed by artist. 145 cm x 175 cm Oil on Linen £15,000

I see, Jesus conquering Death. The pain and suffering, the torment of our inner demons, the anguish of loss and despair, the hatred that consumes the world, the desires we have that slowly cause us to decay, that we want to stop having but don’t know how, the incessant distractions of meaningless stuff that keep us from achieving a state of Being and joy………. the radiant blue light of His Presence permeates everything….. brings peace and soothing to everything ……….including Death.

What do you see? What do you feel?

Good Friday 2020 Symbolism For All?

It strikes me that this Good Friday, April 10th 2020, in the midst of global lockdown during COVID-19, is a truly symbolic celebration with meanings for us all.

Tessa Fyffe

The Gospel according to John chapter 18 verse 1 to chapter 19 verse 42 contains The Passion of our Lord. Here are some extracts.

19:17….So they took Jesus and led Him away; so He went out, bearing His own cross, to the spot called, The Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha.

v18. There they crucified Him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

v19. Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross, it read ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’.

v25……but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

v30…….Jesus said “It is finished”, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

51. Scene from Stations of the Cross II. (as displayed in the artist’s Church) 76 cm x 61 cm Oil on Linen £3000

It strikes me that this Good Friday, April 10th 2020, in the midst of global lockdown during COVID-19, is a truly symbolic celebration with meanings for us all.

Perhaps the death of Jesus on Good Friday can be aligned to the changing face of life on earth as we know it…….the winter before the springtime…….the pain that comes before birthing new life……. the darkness of sickness before the light of restoration and healing……the cycle of death and life.

By immersing ourselves into the pain and humiliation and torture and suffering and ultimately, the death of Jesus, we can also imagine a death to those parts of our lives that bring us down, the habits that harm our minds and bodies, the choices we have made that have brought us to a low point in our lives, that we want to change.

We are the hidden faces at the foot of the cross in Terence’s painting above. Look at it……….. you can leave all those bad choices, habits, people, at the foot of the cross. You can make a decision to do that today. You can intend to throw off all your excess baggage that is preventing you from running the race of your life. Let it all die, with Jesus, on the cross. Leave it at the foot of the cross.

Intend to start afresh…………and start a ‘new’ life, as Jesus does for us all when he conquers death and is risen on Easter Sunday.