Gospel in Art: They were furious, and began plotting against Jesus

.... Dies Irae. Street Art in Mantua, Italy 2017 ..... ©Kurt Wenner Artist

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 11 September 2023
Luke 6:6-11

On the sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would cure a man on the sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, 'Stand up! Come out into the middle.' And he came out and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, 'I put it to you: is it against the law on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?' Then he looked round at them all and said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He did so, and his hand was better. But they were furious, and began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus.

Reflection on the street artwork

In today's reading we see the Pharisees' pettiness and nitpicking on full display again, trying to trick Jesus. In fact, our reading ends by saying that they were now going to actively plot against Jesus. Seemingly they couldn't be happy for the man who just got healed. Politics were more important.

I guess we all have some of the Pharisee in us. We tend to be critical, see the bad in people and are not always generous with our thoughts. Are we happy when someone gets promoted? Or when someone's children get into a good school? Are we happy for other people? For the receiver of such graces, it can hurt when their friends cannot step outside of their own life story for a minute in order to be happy for them. And that is what Jesus is asking us to do today: to step outside ourselves and be happy for others.

We shouldn't get stuck anyway in a 'comparison trap', where we constantly compare ourselves to others. If we are in such a trap, then it may well be hard to climb out of such a mindset. The image of the street artwork by Kurt Wenner is helpful. We see people struggling to climb out of a hole which they largely dug for themselves. Titled 'Dies Irae', it refers to the medieval Latin hymn of that name about the Last Judgment, traditionally sung at requiem masses. Dies irae (Latin for "Day of Wrath") are its opening words, by either Thomas of Celano of the Franciscans or Latino Malabranca Orsini, lector at the Dominican studium at Santa Sabina, the forerunner of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz and Saint-Saëns all composed musical scores for the hymn.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-6-6-11-2023/