Veritas - From the APRIM

Sacrifice

My twin 8-year-old daughters recently moved schools, and as a result they spend about 30 minutes each morning and each afternoon in the car with me travelling to and from school. Over the first several weeks of this, I recounted stories of my childhood to keep them amused (and to steer them from the bickering that often ensues from boredom). However, there were only so many stories I could tell, so I had to think of other ways to spend this time.

I decided it would be interesting and good for my daughters to read the Bible. They’ve attended Catholic school since reception and we are regular Mass attendees, so they are familiar with some stories. However, I thought they would be able to learn quite a bit about the cornerstone of western culture – our Judeo-Christian heritage and Catholic faith - by progressing slowly through the stories, particularly because my grasp of the Bible is reasonably sound, and I would be able to ‘break it open’ for them.

After progressing through Genesis 1 (the six day creation story) we moved on to the stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel. These stories are by no means simple and unsophisticated. They are quite the contrary, and a thorough analysis and inclusion of the myriad of cross-validation opportunities presented in culture can easily turn these shortish stories into multiple-volume encyclopedias! For you I will take an example along the theme of sacrifice and summarise it in much less than an encyclopedia.

Following the consumption of fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were transformed from innocents like animals to conscious human beings. They became aware of suffering and the future – characteristics of human consciousness - and a disappointed God sent them out of the Garden of Eden to suffer in certain ways; namely, they had to work to survive. This demonstrates the emergence of the human ‘affliction’ of work. Work is nearly always a sacrifice of something now for something better in the future. Child birth and child rearing are examples of sacrifice that involve suffering and work and result in something very rewarding. Generally, parents make sacrifices for their children’s future and their own in the process, and generally these sacrifices pay off, but not always.

When we move on to Cain and Abel, the first humans to be born (mythologically), we see them both making explicit sacrifices to God; Abel sacrifices a lamb and Cain sacrifices fruit. God isn’t pleased with Cain’s sacrifice and this causes bitterness and resentment in Cain which manifests in his jealousy of Abel. The image above of Cain and Abel portrays Cain’s resentment as pulpable. This takes control of him, and he kills Abel. Why God was displeased with Cain’s sacrifice is irrelevant in this case, as this dissatisfaction is simply representative of bad luck or Cain’s poor choices (although this is not clear). The point is: sometimes sacrifices don’t pay off. This is like the parent who sacrifices a lot for their child but for reasons unknown, the reward alludes them. We can cite millions of examples of bad luck or not quite doing one’s best resulting in negative emotion. The lesson from this is to not become resentful – to not allow bitterness to control your life, but instead continue to work toward betterment, instead of working toward the destruction of what does please God (eg. Abel).

The New Testament is progressed. In it we see the ultimate sacrifice was that of God’s. His only son Jesus was sacrificed for the better future of humanity. People can imagine scenarios, and indeed there have been a multitude of real-life examples, where a parent has lost their own life shielding their child from danger. There are also examples where parents have spared themselves and lost their child in the process. Sacrificing one’s own life is considered to be the ultimate sacrifice. Sacrificing your child’s life for your own should not be underestimated either, as you have to live with that horror. In God’s case, given Jesus is God, both the Father and the Son are willingly self-sacrificed, and that is a level of sacrifice that is unattainable for humankind. In this case though, there is resurrection. The sacrifice is so great that it overcomes death itself. It opens the door to Eden and allows humankind to return to paradise and consume from the tree of life – eternal life.

This Christian understanding has allowed us to live happily in sacrifice. The Christian anthropological understanding of human nature is that it is Paschal. That is, we are in a constant cycle of death and rebirth. Our Catholic tradition is explicit of this sacramentality in that the sacrament of Reconciliation formally demonstrates death and rebirth, and celebrates it. Learning is also sacramental and Paschal; when we stop making mistakes there is death, and as we learn something new there is birth.

For the families of our Year 12s and all their teachers since they were born, I would like to draw focus to the sacrifices made to bring these students to their potential. The Blackfriars school community thanks you for these sacrifices as they improve the world, or at least prevent it from slipping into chaos. For the Year 12 students who have also made enormous sacrifices, I hope you are rewarded. For those that have done their best and don’t get the reward they feel they deserve, I advise you to forge ahead and make the world a better place anyway. Find happiness in the success of others, and seek to continue to make sacrifices as they will bring some reward, which is much better than resenting others and God. And for all of you, every now and then, contemplate the fruits of the sacrifices you’ve made. And the sacrifice you are making now - what fruits will they bear? Will the sacrifices that you make now lead you to the ultimate reward: the fruit from the tree of life awaiting in paradise?

Mary MacKillop Awards for Excellence for Senior Students

On Saturday evening, Carlos Garcia and Benedict Gbala received the Mary MacKillop Awards at St Francis Xavier Cathedral as our Blackfriars’ recipients. Congratulations to Carlos and Benedict for this achievement. To continue the theme of sacrifice, I know that these two wonderful Blackfriars gentlemen have made personal sacrifices to achieve their best. Moreover, I know their parents have also made sacrifices and faced adversity along the way. They have ‘pushed through’ for their children and should be very proud of them, and of themselves for their efforts to make the world a better place.

Our Principal, Mr Simon Cobiac, also writes of this achievement. Photos of Carlos and Benedict appear with Mr Cobiac’s article.

Mr Matthew Crisanti

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL: RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AND MISSION (ACTING)