Veritas - From the APRIM

Veritas – From the APRIM

This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him. (Luke 9: 35)

On Friday I attended a professional learning day for Catholic Primary and Secondary Religious Identity and Mission Leaders and the speaker who led the day was theologian Dr Peter Mudge from Australian Catholic University. The themes were an integration of Spirituality and Wisdom, which is relevant given the implementation of the Wisdom strand into the Crossways Religious Education framework mandated by Catholic Education South Australia. Dr Mudge presented as the personification of both spirituality and wisdom, through his demeanour and profound knowledge of scripture, saints and mystics. Our Dominican tradition is punctuated by this integration, and Dr Mudge made regular references to St Thomas Aquinas, St Catherine of Siena and Meister Eckhart. I am convinced that Dr Mudge and all the saints and mystics he mentioned had listened to Jesus.

Last Sunday’s scripture reading from Luke 9: 28-36 is known as The Transfiguration. This is depicted in the Fra Angelico painting accompanying this article. On a mountain top, Jesus prays and is joined by the witnesses of Moses, the father of the Law, and Isaiah, the representative of all prophets.

Jesus is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets, as indicated through their witness. In this scripture, Jesus is described as transfigured into a blinding light, and God’s voice is heard: “This is my Son, the Chosen one. Listen to Him”. The apostles Peter, John and James witness this too, and they represent the future – the Church through which listening to Jesus can continue. This divine person, Jesus, speaks to us through scripture. As Catholics, we also have a rich tradition. So, Jesus speaks to us through scripture and tradition. This is something we can listen to as it equates with listening to Jesus.

Also on Friday, the news was rolling in that some of our Muslim cousins in New Zealand had suffered a terrorist attack. They were worshipping God at the time. The people that committed this attack were not listening to Jesus; they were listening to the father of hate – the Devil. They were listening to the father of the anti-life. Terror is one manifestation of this, but you don’t have to delve too deeply into mainstream western culture now to see that anti-life messages are not only accepted but endorsed and even encouraged and celebrated. I believe in the Triune God; the beauty of life and the beautiful actions of people are the evidence of God’s existence. However, the terror that people inflict and the anti-life people encourage is also evidence of the Devil. We choose who we listen to.

The scripture of the previous week comes from Luke 4: 1-13 and is the Temptation of Jesus in the Desert. I refer to this scripture because the Devil appears in it as the tempter of Jesus. Temptation is a human experience – just one of the many that Jesus also experienced. Jesus shows us that we should and can avoid the temptations presented to us by the Devil. Don’t listen to voices that encourage evil.

Dr Mudge spent most of his time presenting Christian Wisdom and Spirituality. However, he also presented the Wisdom and Spirituality of other religions such as Taoism, Judaism and Islam. Much of the spirituality Dr Mudge presented emphasised the importance of breathing, and the spirituality of the breath. At this time, following the scripture imploring us all to listen to Jesus, and as we mourn with our Muslim cousins, I cannot think of a better way to illustrate the relationship of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam than through the poem of the Sufi Islamic poet, Hafiz, which Dr Mudge shared with us:

I am a hole in a flute

that the Christ's breath moves through

listen to this music

I am the concert from the mouth of every creature

singing with the myriad chorus

I am a hole in a flute

that the Christ's breath moves through

listen to this music

Jesus is God’s beloved son - the chosen one. Listen to Him.

Mr Matthew Crisanti

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL: RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AND MISSION