Durham Martyrs?

Lord of the Sabbath Saturday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time 4th Sept St. Cuthbert Memorial First Letter to the Corinthians 4:6-15. “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (15). Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6:1-5. "The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath." (5) The Gospel this morning is “The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.” This is another Sabbath controversy on the Pharisees and disciples plucking the corn on Sabbath. In the great book of Benedict xvi, “Jesus  of Nazareth”, has a fine section on “The Dispute Concerning the Sabbath” (p.106ff). (The Audio Version unabridged Book is helpful to the partial sighted). I don’t quote from that book. There is sufficient from Jesus words, “The Son of Man is Lord  κύριος  of the Sabbath”. I am come to punctuate the clause: “The Son of Man is Lord, ... of the Sabbath.” And endorse, 'Christ is the Sabbath'. Another perspective!.’Christ is Rest’, Sabbath is Christ.’ Instead of the nitpicking about Pharisees and disciples plucking, Christ is at the centre. Looking for the connection of the two Readings, St. Paul is seen contending with the wayward Corinthians, 1Cor. 4:6-15. The itinerant preacher is translated as the “spiritual hobo” (astatoumen). His severe words yield to his affection for the hearers, “I became your father in Christ” (15). The two Readings, Luke and Paul, centred ON Christ, IN Christ. [Son of Man is Lord (of the Sabbath): Like Matt 12:8, Luke omits the prior statement about Sabbath being made for humans in Mark 2:27. He also omits the emphatic “even” (kai) in Mark. Nor does he have the "for" (gar) of Matthew, which makes the Christological point more explicit. His conclusion is no less emphatic, however for being abrupt. For the Son of Man and his exousia, see note on 5:24. (The Gospel of Luke, Sacra Pagina, L.T. Johnson p.102)] See blow: Benedict xvi, ‘Concerning the Sabbath.’   ------------------------------------------------------------ Today is the Memorial of Saint Cuthbert of Durham. Durham Cathedral is dedicated as the Church of Christ, Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Cuthbert. The Missal fails to name St. Cuthbert. Another Memorial failed is that of the Durham (Dunbar) Martyrs.Checking from Wikipedia: Durham Cathedral (Oliver Cromwell) After the Battle of Dunbar, September 3, 1650, Durham Cathedral was used by Oliver Cromwell as a makeshift prison to hold Scottish prisoners-of-war. It is estimated that as many as 3,000 were imprisoned of whom 1,700 died in the cathedral itself, where they were kept in inhumane conditions, largely without food, water or heat. The prisoners destroyed much of the cathedral woodwork for firewood but Prior Castell's clock, which featured the Scottish thistle, was spared. The prisoners' bodies were buried in unmarked graves. The survivors were shipped as slave labour to North America. In 1946 during work to install a new central heating system for the University, a mass grave of the Scottish soldiers was uncovered. In 1993 the Scottish Covenanter's Memorials Association discussed with the Cathedral the construction of a memorial to the soldiers, but this was inconclusive. Towards the end of 2007 a campaign was launched to commemorate the Dunbar Martyrs. Among the aims of the campaigners are to gain a Christian blessing for the dead and a memorial at the Cathedral burial site. Exhumation of the remains and reburial in Scotland is also under consideration. ----------------------------------------------------- From, “Jesus of Nazareth”, Benedict XVI, ‘The Dispute Concerning the Sabbath’, pp. 108-109. ‘…For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath’ (Mt l2:5-8). Neusner comments: "He [Jesus] and his disciples may do on the Sabbath what they do because they stand in the place of the priests in the Temple; the holy place has shifted, now being lormd by the circle made up of the master and his disciples" (pp. 83f:). At this point we need to pause for a moment in order to see what the Sabbath meant for Israel. This will also help us to understand what is at stake in this dispute. Cod rested on the seventh day, as the creation account in Genesis tells us. Neusner rightly concludes that on that day we ... celebrate creation" (p. 74). He then adds: "Not working on the Sabbath stands for more than nitpicking ritual. It is a way of imitating God (p. 75). The Sabbath is therefore not just a negative matter of nor engaging in outward activities, but a positive matter of "resting” which must also he expressed in a spiritual dimension: "So to keep the Sabbath, one remains at home. It is not enough merely not to work. One also has to rest. And resting means, re-forming one day a week the circle of family and household, everyone at home and in place" (p. 80). The Sabbath is not just a matter of personal piety; it is the core of the social order. This day "makes eternal Israel what it is, the people that, like God in creating the world, rest from creation on the Seventh Day" (p. 74). We could easily stop here to consider how salutary it would also be for our society today if families set aside one day a week to stay together and make their home the dwelling place and the fulfilment of communion in God's rest. But let us forgo such reflections here and remain with the dialogue between Jesus and Israel, which is also inevitably a dialogue between Jesus and us and between us and the Jewish people of today. For Neusner, the key word rest, understood as an integral clement of the Sabbath, is the connecting link to Jesus' exclamation immediately prior to the story of the disciples plucking the cars of wheat in Matthew's Gospel. It is the so-called Messianic Jubelreuf (joyful shout), which begins as follows: "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes" (Mt. 11:25-30). We are accustomed to considering these as two totally distinct texts. The first one speaks of Jesus' divinity, the other of the dispute surrounding the Sabbath. When we read Neusner, we realize that the two texts arc closely related, for in both cases the issue is the mystery of Jesus--the "Son of Man" of the "Son" par excellence. The verses immediately preceding the Sabbath narrative read as follows: "Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Mt ]]:28-30). This is usually interpreted in terms of the idea of the liberal Jesus, that is, moralistically, Jesus' liberal understanding of the Law makes for a less burdensome life than "Jewish legalism." This interpretation is not very convincing in practice, though, for following Christ is not comfortable--and Jesus never said it would be, either.