The connection between verses 25 and 27 (of Mt 11) now enables us to see their unity of will.

Sunday 3 July 2011 Matthew 11:25-30

The Sunday riveting pericope Matt 11:25-30 resounded in our hearts. Any  commentaries are found lacking. 

Pastoral ruminations serve their purpose. The incisive and scriptural roots search for more. 

To the rescue again is Benedict xvi; as in Jesus of Nazareth, Part 1 'The Son' pp.355-344.

Let us return to the Jubelruf. The equality in being that we saw expressed in verses 25 and 27 (of Mt 11) as oneness in will, and in knowledge is now linked in the first half of verse 27 with Jesus' universal mission and so with the history of the world: "All things have been delivered to me by my Father.” When we consider the Synoptic Jubelruj in its full depth, what we find is that it actually already contains the entire Johannine theology of the Son. There too, Sonship is presented as mutual knowing and as oneness in willing. There too, the Father is presented as the Giver who has delivered "everything" to the Son, and in so doing has made him the Son, equal to himself: "All that is mine is thine, and all that is thine is mine" (Jn 17:10). And there too, this fatherly giving then extends into the creation, into the "world": "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son"  (Jn 3:16).

POPE BENEDICT XVI   JESUS OF NAZARETH Part I, pp 335-345

THE SON

At the beginning of this chapter, we saw briefly that the two titles “Son of God” and "Son" (without further qualification) need to be distinguished; their origin and significance are quite different, even though the two meanings overlapped and blended together as the Christian faith took shape. Since I have already dealt quite extensively with the whole question in my Introduction to Christianity, I offer only a brief summary here as an analysis of the term "Son of God.”

The term “Son of God” derives from the political theology of the ancient Near East. In both Egypt and Babylon the king was given the title "son of God"; his ritual accession to the throne was considered to be his "begetting" as the Son of God, which the Egyptians may really have understood in the sense of a mysterious origination from God, while the Babylonians apparently viewed it more soberly as a juridical act, a divine adoption. Israel took over these ideas in two

335

ways, even as Israel's faith reshaped them. Moses received from God himself the commission to say to Pharaoh: "Thus says YHWH, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, 'Let my son go that he may serve me'" (Ex 4:22f.). The nations are God's great family, but Israel is the "firstborn son," and as such, belongs to God in a special way, with all that firstborn status means in the ancient Middle East. With the consolidation of the Davidic kingship, the royal ideology of the ancient Near East was transferred to the king on Mount Zion.

The discourse in which Nathan prophesies to David the promise that his house will endure forever includes the following: "I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his king­dom .... I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him ... but I will not take my steadfast love from him" (2 Sam 7:I2ff.; see Ps 89:27f., 37f.). These words then become the basis for the ritual installation of the kings of Israel, a ritual that we encounter in Psalm 2:7f.: "I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, 'You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession:"

Three things are evident here. Israel's privileged status as God's firstborn son is personified in the king; he embodies the dignity of Israel in person. Secondly, this means that the ancient royal ideology, the myth of divine begetting, is discarded and replaced by the theology of election. "Begetting" consists in election; in today's enthronement of the king, we see a summary expression of God's act of election, in which Israel and the king who embodies it become God's "son:'

336

Thirdly, however, it becomes apparent that the promise of dominion over the nations-a promise taken over from the great kings of the East-is out of all proportion to the actual reality of the king on Mount Zion.

COMMENT Of Men and Gods,

July High Summer

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: WILLIAM  ...
To: Fr Donald  ...
Sent: Sun, 3 July, 2011 10:13:09
Subject: Re: [Blog] Cistercian monks in Algeria

Dear Father Donald,

 

Anne Marie has come upon the very best article written on the portrayal of the film, Of Men and Gods, which goes to the heart of the meaning of the sacrifice made by your Brethren in Algeria. This closing passage is memorable:

 

The monks’ willingness to die for their faith, firm in the knowledge that it was not true death, but merely physical death, seems anything but a tragedy. This closely parallels Christ’s death, and our view of Christ’s death informs how we see the monks’ murder. Unjustly executed before his time, his death could easily be seen as a tragedy. However, it is only through his death that the Men of the monks, fallible, imperfect, sinful people that they are, can become like Gods, perfect and no longer tainted by the evil things they once did.

Please thank Anne Marie - this is an article to archive that I may ever reflect upon it.

 

. . . in Our Lord,

William 

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Cistercian monks in Algeria

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Anne Marie  . . .
To: Donald   . . .
Sent: Fri, 1 July, 2011 22:35:39
Subject: Fwd: CultureWatch Update: 1 July 2011

I thought you would like the article on Of Gods and men.
There are more links in the article.

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

CultureWatch Update - 1 July 2011 To: anne marie milwain (Damaris Username: amilwain) This email is only sent to Damaris members who have opted to receive CultureWatch Update. Login to manage the emails you receive from us. Has this email been forwarded to you? Access all the latest CultureWatch resources by joining the Damaris internet community for free. It entitles you to future special offers on some of our other resources. In CultureWatch Update this week: 127 Hours Of Gods and Men John Galliano Culturewatch Podcasts For other recent additions to CultureWatch, see the What's New page, or see what's new onother Damaris websites. Welcome to this week's Culturewatch update, where we have three new articles for you. The first, written by Richard Blakely before he finished his internship, looks at the Oscar-nominated thriller 127 Hours. Visceral, inventive, and with a gruesome climax that's not easy to sit through, the film explores the human will to survive. What is it that really makes life worth living? New culturewatch intern Hannah Bottom has written about Of Gods and Men, a critically-acclaimed independent film which focuses on a group of Cistercian monks in Algeria. When violence rocks the country, they face a decision: will they stay or leave? Hannah's article looks into questions of community and sacrifice. Finally, we have something a bit different - an article by Stuart Goddard on disgraced fashion designer John Galliano, who was suspended from Dior in February for alleged xenophobic outbursts. In our usual podcasts, you can hear me and Tony talking about the latest DVD and cinema releases, from tearjerking dramaNever Let Me Go to noisy sci-fi sequel Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Don't forget that The First Grader is still in cinemas, and Damaris' free resources are still available to help you think through the issues it raises.  Sophie Lister

Of Gods and Men - An article by Hannah Bottom on the drama about Cisterian monks in Algeria.

Death and freedom

Author: Hannah Bottom 

Keywords: Life, death, martyrdom, sacrifice, community, religion, brotherhood

Film title: Des Hommes et des Dieux (Of Gods And Men)

Director: Xavier Beauvois

Screenplay: Etienne Comar, Xavier Beauvois

Starring: Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale, Olivier Rabourdin, Phillippe Laudenbach

Distributor: Artificial Eye (UK); Sony Pictures Classics (USA)

Cinema Release Date: 3 December 2010 (UK); 25 February 2011 (USA)

Certificate: R (USA); 15 (UK) Contains infrequent strong violence

Buy Of Gods and Men from Amazon.co.uk or from Amazon.com

Note: This article contains plot spoilers.

Xavier Beauvois’s film Of Gods and Men is, perhaps, embodied by one moment. Having adjusted the handle of the gun on his shoulder, the leader of a group of Islamic extremists thrusts his hand out in front of the prior of a Cistercian monastery. It hangs, solidly, under the electric light. Christian, the prior, looks from the hand to the man’s face, returning his gaze to the hand. And takes it. It is just a handshake, yet that moment of contact between these two worlds demonstrates something of the very core of this captivating film.

• Set in a beautifully hazy landscape in North Africa, the film weaves its way around the humble lives of Cistercian monks as they enact their daily routine of prayer, meditation, singing and working. Led by Christian (Lambert Wilson), they plough the land, wash-up, make and sell honey. And whilst their religion may distinguish them from the locals, they are, in fact, an integral part of the community. Luc (Michael Lonsdale), the doctor, offers medical treatment, relationship advice and clothing; all the monks are invited to a local boy’s circumcision party, and several attend. It is a quiet, simple existence. The film stunningly amplifies this by silence: the only sound is often the gentle hum of people around the monks, or the bristling and brushing of objects as they work. Encircling them, however, is political turmoil. Loosely based on events in Algeria during the 1990s, radical Islamist groups are fighting to prise power from the government in an increasingly bloody war.[1] When they order all foreigners to leave the country, they make their threat frighteningly clear by killing a group of Catholic Croatian workers. The Cistercian Monks are faced with a decision: to remain or leave. It is the question on which the film hangs, a silent threat that presses in as it overshadows and begins to stifle the monks’ lives. However, whilst this provides the essential crux of the plot, in Of Gods and Men this simple question of physical movement is translated into an eloquent questioning of faith, humanity and community.