I recall that as a teenager I encountered Edvard Munch's The Cry
with a sense of "I know that cry..."
At that time it was a mixture of street protests over Sharpville,
the horrors of alcohol addiction I witnessed in others,
and events of "desperation" around me.
King David senses the same in today's First Reading
(extracts 2 Sam 18).
Absolom is murdered. "Oh, my son, my son..." is David's cry.
And we all know of fathers who have cried over their sons.
But, for the Christian, all is never lost.
The Responsorial Psalm (86) takes us beyond the cry:
"Fill your servant's heart with joy, Lord,
for to you I raise up my heart.
Lord, you are kind and forgiving,
rich in faithful love for all who call upon you."
It is in and through that "cry" that we turn to God
and God's Love becomes manifest,
because every "cry" is a reflection of Jesus on the Cross,
and that Jesus, Forsaken and crucified,
is the pinacle of God's Love for us in Christ.
In His Cry we were loved into salvation,
hugged into redemption,
lifted above the disaster,
and the water of tears is turned into drops of wine
to celebrate that Love, so that
In living the Word we give glory to God.
The Gospel (Mk 5:21-43) confirms this!
"A woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years ...
came up through the crowd and touched Jesus' cloak from behind,
thinking, 'If I can just touch his clothes, I shall be saved.' "
She was! Her faith moved her beyond the cry, beyond the wound.
So can we: accept the Word, Live it, and you will discover
that, like this woman,
In living the Word we give glory to God.
It is because when we live the Word,
God works in and through us, to take us beyond the cry...
Jesus goes further: Jairus' daughter is raised from the dead.
The cries of the mourners are stifled.
so can ours be stifled.
The "Davids" of our world need not weep for their sons.
A new beginning awaits us when we realise that
In living the Word we (can) give glory to God.
I believe we know which Words need to be lived intensely,
now, today...
Why make of life a "cry"
when we are freed to give glory to our God,
not lament?
Depends on my conviction:
like the Gospel's
"woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years" or
"the president of the synagogue ... named Jairus."
Am I prepared to risk proving the Password, that
In living the Word we (can) give glory to God ?
Stay blessed.
G
[pic: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/munch/
Edvard Munch: Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intense, evocative treatment of psychological and emotional themes was a major influence on the development of German Expressionism in the early 20th century. His painting The Cry (1893) is regarded as an icon of existential anguish... typical in its anguished expression of isolation and fear." ]
[ In living the Word we give glory to God.
Vivendo la Parola diamo gloria a Dio
Vivendo a palavra, damos glória a Deus
En vivant la Parole, nous rendons gloire à Dieu
Viviendo la Palabra damos gloria a Dios
Wir verherrlichen Gott, indem wir sein Wort leben
Door het Woord te beleven geven we glorie aan God ]
21 February 2012: BBC reports:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17114751
Edvard Munch masterpiece The Scream to be auctioned for the first time, the artwork will be displayed in London, prior to the New York sale.
Edvard Munch's famous masterpiece The Scream is to be sold at auction in New York, Sotheby's has announced.
The Norwegian artist created several versions of the artwork, using different techniques.
The 1895 work, which is going under the hammer in May, was created using pastels and is the only version still in private hands.
A Sotheby's spokesperson has suggested the artwork's price tag could exceed $80m (£50m).
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