Category: Holy Spirit

Christ in the Wilderness: Lent – the Season of Preparation – Luke 4: 1-2.

On By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Art Education, Artists, Bible, Catholic, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christian Spirituality, Christianity, Conscience, Conversion, Culture, Demons, Devils, discipleship, Education, Evangelization, Faith, Gospel Teachings, Gospels of Jesus Christ, History, Holy Spirit, Hope, Ivan Kramskoi, Jesus Christ, Joy, Lent, Lucifer, New Evangelization, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Orthodox Art, Orthodox Christianity, painting, Penance, Religion, Religious Art, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Russian Artists, Russian Orthodox, sacred, Sacred Art, Sacred Artists, Sacred Images, Satan, Satan devil, Scriptures, Sin, Spirituality, St. Luke, St. Paul, Teaching, Temptation, Temptation and Sin2 Comments

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, He was famished. (Gospel of Luke chapter 4: verses 1-2)

In the extraordinary painting  below, we see Jesus after He was led into the desert wilderness by the Holy Spirit. He is surrounded by rocks and sand. He sits on a boulder, hands in front of Him. His eyes are filled with the knowledge of reality, of passions, power, and pain, ego and emptiness, sin and self aggrandizement.

This painting may move us from the awareness that in the desert wilderness Jesus is not only thinking through His ministry, Passion, and death but is also viewing our lives – our ministries, our passions, our death.

What do we see?

Let us examine His face.

christ_in_the_wilderness_detail_400

We see the seriousness of the forthcoming temptations; the physical, mental, and the spiritually violent struggle with the devil. It is written plainly upon His emaciated face.

We see the irrefutable fact of Jesus’ humanity.

We see that He is like unto us, except for sin.

This is the face of our Savior; but the victory is not His, yet.

His temptations, public ministry, Passion, and death are still to occur.

What do we see?

We see a man who knows His Mind. He knows His Body, Soul, and Spirit.

He knows His freely accepted duty to accomplish His Father’s will.

This is not the face of a defeated man. It is the face of a determined man who is also Lord and Savior.

**679px-Kramskoi_Christ_dans_le_désert

Observe Christ’s clenched hands, gaze deeply into His eyes, and you will see the artist’s portrayal of a Savior that is already, at the beginning of His ministry, aware of the viciousness of the tempter and the burden of our sins. Sins accepted by Him, and through His Passion and death, makes all things new.

christ_in_the_wilderness_detail_400

Jesus had to confront in that desert assault whether or not He was going to be faithful to His mission.

The Gospel passage above challenges us with the same questions: are we going to be faithful to the Commandments, to our Baptismal promises, to the mission given us in Confirmation to live and practice the truths that He taught us?

Are we going to be faithful to the spiritual power and grace given to us, not just when we feel like it, but even in the most difficult of circumstances?

As disciples of Christ we are on a daily basis constantly revolving around the axis of temptation and sin – faith and grace. We understand that temptation, in and of itself, is a test – it is not sin. It is only sin when we willfully place ourselves in its shackles, when we give into its fueled power to overwhelm our body and soul. That power  – a deadly power – obtains its animus and energy from the original tempter and liar – Lucifer himself.

Hell is real. It is not a mental construct. To say that it doesn’t exist is to call Jesus a liar, and His Passion, death, and Resurrection meaningless.

Jesus the Christ lived heroically in the face of Hell’s demons and witnessed to the power of God’s grace.

But you say, I am not Jesus Christ, I am a weak man or woman, boy or girl.

I say true, we all are; but by virtue of our faithful reception of the Holy Sacraments (Holy Mysteries) of Reconciliation (Penance/Confession) and the Holy Eucharist we have the power of Christ’s grace within us. A power, freely given by God and unmerited by us, to resist and overcome temptation and sin.

If we do sin – if we do “miss the mark” – we have a remedy.  We follow St. Paul’s advice: pick yourself up, dust yourself off (confess your sins), and confidently continue on your journey. We must do our part in cooperation with God’s love and mercy.

The Season of Lent is a time of joyful repentance, prayer, and fasting.

Let’s remember the  words of Nehemiah, who in the Hebrew Scriptures says: Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep; for today is holy to our Lord. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength! (Nehemiah 8: 9-10. 5th century BC)

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The painting above was created and completed in the late 19th century by Ivan Kramskoi. He was a gifted Russian painter, noted portraitist, draughtsman, and teacher. The painting is entitled Christ in the Wilderness.

Copyright © 2011- 2019 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved. Portions of this essay may be used in accordance with correct notation and bibliographical insertion; contact deaconiacono@icloud.com for more information or questions.

Pentecost 2013

On By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Christianity, Evangelization, Faith, Gospel Reflections, Gospel Teachings, Gospels of Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Pentecost, Religion, Roman Catholic, Uncategorized1 Comment

As we celebrate the birth of the Church at Pentecost (confer the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2 ff), we should be filled with an urgent need to obtain and, most importantly, use the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit that are available to us.

Our Scriptures tells us that the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are: fear of the Lord (which means that we desire not to offend God in any way), understanding, counsel (which is supernatural prudence), fortitude, knowledge, piety, and wisdom. These Seven Gifts are received as a grace of God at the moment of our Baptism; and they are strengthened and completed at the moment of our Confirmation.

pentecost 2 detail

In our Gospels, Jesus explains these Gifts by using the two analogies of breath and water. Jesus tells His disci- ples: “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me”  – and – “the water that I shall give will become in him a fountain of living water, welling up into eternal life.”

Jesus explains that this new water, “the living water” of the Holy Spirit, is a new kind of water because it is given to those who are worthy to receive it.

Christ uses the analogy of living water to express the grace of the Spirit, because all things are fundamentally dependent on water, and all plants and animals have their origins in water.

One of the early Fathers of the Church, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, tells us: “When water comes down from the heavens as rain, it is always the same in itself, yet, it produces different effects – one in a flower, another in a tree, and yet a third and fourth in an animal or person. So the grace of the Holy Spirit,  like water, adapts itself to the needs of every creature that receives it. In the same way the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, simple, and indivisible, gives grace to each man [or woman] as  He, [the Holy Spirit] wills.” (St Cyril of Jerusalem)

We have all received the saving grace, and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit at Baptism, but there comes a moment, usually around the age of our Confirmation, in which we are asked to recognize, develop, and use those seven Gifts.

But there is a condition, my brothers and sisters for this to happen: like a dry plant in your garden, the soul is able to produce the many flowers of holiness only when the soil of the soul has been raked and fertilized through repentance, and Sacramental reconciliation. This act of repentance is both an intellectual and spiritual action. Repentance has made your soul ready to effectively use the water, the grace, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

St. Paul and St. Cyril remind us that “the Holy Spirit makes one person a teacher, another a healer, a third a prophet, and a fourth a pastor. Scripture tells us that in each person [who is free from serious sin] the Spirit reveals His presence in a particular way for the common good.” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)

Ultimately, if we actively apply these truths we are able to impact the spiritual life of those around us. How does this happen? It happens by virtue of our own dedication to holiness as we live out the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost Sunday reminds us that we were Sacramen- tally Baptized and Confirmed to be apostles – to go forth and use these Seven Gifts that God has given us – to work on behalf of the family of God.

Let us be joyous on this Pentecost Sunday; let us rejoice in the truth that the Holy Spirit will always remain with our Church and sanctify us with His many graces; and let us recommit ourselves to allowing the Holy Spirit, through the graces of all the Sacraments, to energize us, and if necessary, change our natures for the better – so that we, too, may be fruitful apostles for Christ.

Copyright © 2011- 2013 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved This essay was delivered as a homily by Deacon Iacono at St. Francis of Assisi Church, Wakefield, RI USA on Pentecost Sunday May 19, 2013.  Notes on painting: Jan Joest van Kalkar (c. 1450 – 1519). Pentecost (Pfingsten) 1505 – 1508, Oil on wood, 41 x 28 1/4 inches, location: St. Nicholai’s Church (Katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Nikolai), Kalkar Kreis Kleve. Link to the source of this information: http://idlespeculations-terryprest.blogspot.com/2011/06/pentecost.html Thanks to Terry Prest for providing the image and its source.