2025/03/03

185. The Prophesied One, Part 7

The characters from the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation reunite on the San Damiano Crucifix. At the top of the crucifix, John of Revelation is holding a scroll with seals. To the right of Jesus on the cross are his mother and the Apostle John, and to the left are Mary Magdalene and Mary, the wife of Clopas. 

In addition, some gaze intently at Jesus on the cross. On the left of Mary Magdalene and Mary, the wife of Clopas, there is the centurion, who symbolises the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, and his serious gaze reminds us of Paul, who paved the way to Rome. The person looking up at Jesus over the centurion's shoulder is the prophecy of Francis, who would encounter this crucifix. This encounter with the crucifixion led him to take on the Gospels of John and Revelation. He came to have the eyes of the Apostle John. 

The rooster painted smaller below the cross, to the left of Jesus' knee, also stares up at Jesus. At the Last Supper, when Peter was hot-blooded and said, "I will lay down my life for you" (Jn 13:37), Jesus foretold, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times" (13:38) and guarded his life. The gaze of the rooster depicted here expresses Peter's thoughts. 

Two other men are also depicted as small on either side of Jesus on the cross, looking at him. They are traditionally said to be the following. The person on Jesus' left is the person who offered Jesus the sponge soaked in vinegar. The Gospel of John says that Jesus accepted it (cf. Jn 19:29-30). That was a sign that the "Kingdom of God" that Jesus had mentioned in his words, "I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Lk 22:18) had come. He was a witness to it. 

The man on Jesus' right is the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus' side with a spear. He was present at the establishment of the New Covenant and the birth of the Church and was bathed in the blood and water that flowed from Jesus' side. The Gospel of John writes, "And again another scripture says, 'They shall look on him whom they have pierced.'" (Jn 19:37). This description is found only in this passage and Revelation in the New Testament (cf. Rev 1:7). 

The fact that the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation are interrelated here overlaps with the final theme of the final episode of the scene of the Lord's resurrection in the Gospel of John, as written below. That is why the themes of the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation are depicted together in the San Damiano Crucifix. And that must have been of great significance to Saint Francis, who was called to this crucifix and became a prophesied one. We will discuss this in the next issue. 

"The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, 'If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?'" (Jn 21:23). 

Maria K. M.

 2025/02/24

184. Apostle Peter

Jesus united his mother and the Apostle in a parent-child bond on the cross, thereby publicly entrusting the Apostle with the priesthood (cf. Jn 19:26-27). At the centre of the priesthood is the Body and Blood of Christ, which are born through collaboration with the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist directs believers towards the will of the Father (cf. 6:40), fulfilling Jesus' words, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (6:56). There is a new and eternal covenant which enables people to obtain the forgiveness of sins. That is why the Son of God came down from heaven (cf. 6:38). 

God sent the angel to entrust Mary and Joseph with divine authority so that the Son of God would abide among us (cf. Mt 1:20-21; Lk 1:28-38). God asked Mary for her consent to it through the angel because, in her, who conceived the life of the Son of God, an indelible memory of having been a helper in God's work of creation would remain like all women carrying a child. 

The risen Jesus, in the unity of the Trinity, asked Peter, "Do you love me?" three times (cf. Jn 21:15-17). In the presence of the other Apostles, who had experienced the big catch through the Word together in the morning of the day (cf. 21:1-14), and in the presence of "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (19:26), to whom Jesus had entrusted the priesthood, uniting him with his mother by a parent-child bond, God asked Peter for his consent to accept to become the leader of the Apostles and the priesthood that would bring forth the Eucharist in collaboration with the Holy Spirit. That is because, just as in the case of Mary, who became the mother of Jesus, in a man who receives the priesthood, an indelible memory of having been a helper in God's work of salvation will remain. 

Peter replied, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you" (Jn 21:15). This response is equivalent to Mary's words to the angel, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). When viewed in this way, we can see that the divine authority that the Father once revealed to Peter and that Jesus gave him corresponds to the authority entrusted to Jesus' parents, as I show below. 

Peter was given the words "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16) by the Father in heaven (cf. 16:17). On the other hand, Joseph and Mary, who were to welcome the Son of God, were given the words "You shall call his name Jesus" (Mt 1:21; Lk 1:31) by the angel of the Lord. The word "Emmanuel," the name that means "God with us," was fulfilled there. This name continues in the Eucharist, in which God dwells. 

Jesus said to Peter, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Mat 16:18). These words correspond to the words that the angel said to Mary, "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Lk 1:32-33). 

Finally, Jesus' words to Peter, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Mat 16:19), correspond to the words of the angel to Joseph, "for he will save his people from their sins" (1:21). To "save his people from their sins", it was necessary to give Peter, the leader of the Apostles, the "keys of the kingdom of heaven", which would protect believers from temptation and deliver them from evil. 

For Peter, who responded to the risen Jesus' threefold question, "Do you love me?" these words that Jesus had once given him took root within him, and the mission given to him through them was fixed within him. Peter's mission, which was approved before God and the Apostles, would be passed on to his successors. 

Peter, who had taken on the fate of the Church in this way, would meet his end in a place he never expected with the arrival of Paul. Paul paved the way for Christians to Rome, following Jesus' command (cf. Ac 23:11). In Rome, Peter fulfilled Jesus' words, "on this rock I will build my church". That is as Jesus had foretold: "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go" (Jn 21:18).  The second "Follow me" (21:22) we examined last time was Peter's going to Rome according to God's plan. 

Maria K. M.

 2025/02/17

183. "Follow Me!"

In the previous article, we looked back on the "disciple whom Jesus loved" at the last supper in the Gospel of John. He believed and experienced that Jesus was in the Father and the Father was in Jesus. Considering how this disciple leaned against Jesus' chest and said, "Lord, who is it? " (Jn 13:25), we sense the peace of a child resting on his mother's chest. He was, in fact, sleepy. 

In the Gospel of Luke, when Peter, James and John went up the mountain with Jesus and witnessed his transfiguration, it says, "And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Eli'jah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem" (Lk 9:30-31). The parallel passages in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark write that when descending the mountain, Jesus said, "Eli'jah has already come" (Mt 17:12). This refers to John the Baptist, and since Jesus said, "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John" (11:13), Moses and Elijah could not have got involved in Jesus' future. The two that the disciples saw were not Moses and Elijah. They had the opportunity to see the Trinity in a particular way. The Gospel of Luke states, "Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep" (Lk 9:32). 

The three disciples were asleep again when they were with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Here also, the disciples are described as "their eyes were heavy" (Mt 26:43). This situation seems unnatural for the disciples, who were accustomed to fishing all night. Furthermore, each of the Gospels tells us that some of the disciples held a sword. Jesus also told them to carry swords that night (cf. Lk 22:35-38). There was no way the disciples could have fallen asleep on such a tense night. They saw the Trinity in Jesus praying. From these descriptions, we can say that this experience exceeded the limits of human perception. If so, believers would never be able to recognise that they had seen God. That is why God had planned from the beginning to institute the Eucharist, intending to take from the "tree of life" and give it to them to eat (cf. Rev 2:7). 

As we discussed in the article before last, when Peter was asked by the risen Jesus, "Do you love me?" he experienced the "love of God", entering the unity of the Trinity. However, Peter did not feel sleepy at this time. On the contrary, the Bible says that when Jesus asked him for the third time, "Do you love me?", "Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?'" (Jn 21:17). He seems to have been so calm. That was because the person standing before him was Jesus after his resurrection. That is the same as when we are in the presence of the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of the risen Jesus. 

By allowing Peter to experience this, the risen Jesus solidified Peter's memory of the scene where Jesus had once said to Peter, who had answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16), "For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (16:17), and "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (16:18-19). These words dwelt in Peter. These all happened for the sake of the priesthood producing the Eucharist in collaboration with the Holy Spirit. 

Peter realised the following words Jesus had said to show him by what death he was to glorify God (cf. Jn 21:18-19). When Jesus said, "Follow me" (21:19), Peter was prepared to share the same fate as Jesus. Then, "Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved" (21:20). He asked Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" (21:21). Peter realised that he would die and became worried about the younger man. 

Jesus answered Peter, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!" (21:22). This second "Follow me" had a different meaning. Peter and John, the two who had prepared the Lord's final Passover meal (cf. Lk 22:8), are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as having always preached together after the descent of the Holy Spirit. Eventually, they would meet again on the San Damiano Crucifix by a very different route. 

To be continued.

Maria K.M.

 2025/02/10

182. The Prophesied One, Part 6

The final episode in the scene of the resurrection of the Lord of the Gospel of John begins, "Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper and had said, 'Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? '" (Jn 21:20). Therefore, first of all, we need to think back on "the disciple whom Jesus loved" at "the supper". 

At the last supper in the Gospel of John, when Jesus was washing Peter's feet, he said, "[Y]ou are clean, but not every one of you" (Jn 13:10). Peter must have been nearby and heard this. After washing the Apostles' feet, Jesus said, "[I]t is that the scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.'" (13:18). He then declared, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me" (13:21), with the preface, "I tell you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he" (13:19). 

In this tense situation, the disciples could not guess who he was talking about. Then Peter signalled to "the disciple whom Jesus loved," who was right next to Jesus, to ask him who he was talking about. The Gospel says, "So lying thus, close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, 'Lord, who is it?' Jesus answered, 'It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it.'" (13:25-26). Considering the flow of the following story, it seems that only the disciple leaning on Jesus' chest heard his reply. The other Apostles immediately paid their attention to Jesus giving the dipped morsel to Judas and telling Judas, "What you are going to do, do quickly" (13:27). That is why it says, "Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him" (13:28). 

After Judas left, the remaining Apostles resumed conversation with Jesus as if nothing had happened. Even Peter, who had earlier heard Jesus say, "[Y]ou are clean, but not every one of you," seemed to have lost interest. The reason for their attitude was that "the disciple whom Jesus loved" asked Jesus the question in peace while leaning against his chest. He had seen the love of God, which was shown to him with the passion of the Father and the thoughts of a mother, in the way Jesus washed the Apostles' feet and believed in it. He had already experienced the words of Jesus, who said, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works" (14:10). He had believed that the Father was in Jesus, and had become a "child" of Jesus, the divine. 

The "disciple whom Jesus loved" is the one who becomes the "child" of Jesus, the divine. That is as it is written, "But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (1:12-13). After that, Jesus spoke to the Apostles, saying, "Children" (13:33). Jesus called out to them once more, "Children" after he had been risen. That was just when risen Jesus asked the Apostles, who were fishing, "Children, have you any fish?" (21:5). 

St. Francis may have had a vision of mother and child in religious life¹, based on the fact that "the disciple whom Jesus loved" was the child of Jesus, the divine, and also on the description in the Book of Revelation, "He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son" (Rev 21:7), and on the words of Jesus, "And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven" (Mt 23:9). From this, we can see how well he knew the New Testament. The San Damiano Crucifix suggests that mastering the Gospel of John and the training of the Book of Revelation makes this possible. 

1. See The Writings of Saint Francis of Assisi: "To Brother Leo" and "Of Living Religiously in a Hermitage," translated by Father Paschal Robinson (Philadelphia: The Dolphin Press, 1906). 

To be continued

Maria K. M.

 2025/02/03

181. The Prophesied One, part 5

In the twentieth theme of Admonitions attributed to St Francis of Assisi, The Good and the Vain Religious, he writes: "Blessed is that religious who has no pleasure and delight except in the most holy words and deeds of the Lord, and, with these, leads people to the love of God with gladness and joy. Woe to that religious who delights himself in idle and empty words and leads people to laughter with them." That is the essence of John's Gospel and Revelation that Francis received through the San Damiano Crucifix. He had acquired from the Gospel of John the very words "in the most holy words and deeds of the Lord", and from his training of Revelation a sense of "blessedness" and "woe" and the ability to discern it in himself from the perspective of others, metacognition. That is what the "disciple whom Jesus loved" looks like. He must have wanted to remain in this position, a bearer of"the vocation of Jesus". 

The last three of the seven episodes depicted after the resurrection of the Lord in John's Gospel reveal the "love of God" that is only in "the most holy words and deeds of the Lord". As we discussed last time, Jesus demonstrated the love of God with the passion of the Father, together with the maternal thoughts, so that "they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (Jn 17:13). It is the task of every Christian to lead people to this point, i.e. to have "no pleasure and delight except in the most holy words and deeds of the Lord, and, with these, leads people to the love of God with gladness and joy". That is because the Christian is a disciple of Christ, a religious who bears the name of Christ. 

Its feasibility depended on the priesthood of the New Covenant. The New Testament shows that the passion of the Father and the thoughts of the Son, who bore it, were aimed at the priesthood of the New Covenant. Since the time God had said to the first man, "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground" (Gen 3:19), God was waiting for that time when the Holy Spirit would descend, and the priests of the New Covenant would work with the Holy Spirit to bring forth the Eucharist. This plan of God will not cease until the "Kingdom of God" among us is testified to by Christians and recognised by the whole world. That is when we will reach the point where God said, after having seen everything that he had made: "[I]t was very good" (Gen 1:31). Once the Mass liturgy is completed, we Christians will realise that it was the "Kingdom of God". The males who work with the Holy Spirit to bring forth the Eucharist, the Apostles and their successors, will continue to assure future Christians of the "love of God" shown by Jesus by keeping up the priesthood they inherited from Mary, the mother of Jesus (cf. Jn 19:26-27). 

In the fifth episode, after a great catch, the Apostles pulled in a net with fish, and when they returned by boat and went ashore, they found a charcoal fire there. There was also bread. Jesus called out, "Come and have breakfast" (Jn 21:12). He then "took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish" (21:13). Jesus was setting an example of what the Apostles were to do to those who would come to believe in him by their words. Herein lies the essence of the priesthood that the Apostles, as male, inherited from Mary, the mother of Jesus (cf. Lk 22:27). 

In the sixth episode, Jesus tried to communicate "the love of God" through Peter's experience. On the evening of the day of his resurrection, Jesus appeared to the Apostles and gave them the peace of the Lord and conferred on them the authority to forgive sins to send them (cf. Jn 20:19-23). By this, they were healed from having abandoned Jesus and fled and from Peter's three times denial of Jesus. That state of affairs is when "the love of God" can be communicated. 

It is written, "When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?'" (Jn 21:15). Once, in the presence of the Apostles, Jesus revealed to Peter, who had replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16), that "flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (16:17), promising, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (16:18-19). Jesus' gaze was again focused on the Apostle Peter with the Father's fervour and mother's thoughts. Peter was to be able to satisfy the condition, "more than these." 

When Peter said to Jesus, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you," Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs" (Jn 21:15). It is the Father who can say, "My lambs." So, the one who asked Peter about love at this time was the Father's will. Jesus went on to ask about love and commanded, "Tend my sheep" (21:16). This was the will of the Son with the thoughts of a mother. In the words of Jesus, who asked the same question a third time and commanded, "Feed my sheep" (21:17), and in the words that followed, there was the work of the Holy Spirit announcing what was to come (cf. 16:13). The author only found out the meaning of those words after the Holy Spirit had descended (cf. 21:19). To know the love of the Triune God is the experience of man entering into the unity of God (cf. 17:21-26). Jesus then said to Peter, "Follow me" (21:19). He instructed Peter, who had experienced "the love of God," the way of a Christian again. 

To be continued.

Maria K. M.

 2025/01/27

180. The Passion of the Father and New Men and Women

As we considered in the previous article, the Father's passion was poured out on the male members of the Christians, the new people. That is because the work which God began by saying, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen 1:26), must reach the point already mentioned in Genesis 1, that is, the point where he saw everything he had made and said that "it was very good" (Gen 1:31). 

In Genesis, the first "man", whom God himself formed from the dust of the ground, was the "first human person". God then created the woman from one of the ribs of this first "man". She became the "second human person", the one who was to produce human life as the helper of God's work of creation. Hence, the woman has many eggs in her body that become human life, and the memory of that fact gives the woman a nature that is open to the life of others. This nature is highly compatible with the Word, the second persona, the "Word," who is with God, who is God, who makes all things, and who has life in him (cf. Jn 1:1-4). That is evident from the fact that the woman spoke words first, beginning her interaction with the "human information" (the serpent) (cf. Gen 3:1-6). 

God then, after taking one of his ribs from the "first human person", closed up its place with flesh and created the "third human person", the male. The man came to know his physical insufficiency when he looked at the woman (cf. Gen 2:23). The memory of that lack causes the male to have a nature which makes him turn to others to fulfil it. God chose his people, appointed prophets and led them with fervour, making several covenants so that men would turn to the Holy Spirit, God's third persona, with the total mobilisation of this nature. Finally, he sent his Son. The prayer of Jesus in John 17:6-19 expresses the desire of the Son, who bore the Father's passion and fulfilled it. The deep love of God reflected in it evokes the image of a mother about to pass away praying for the children she is leaving behind. 

In the fullness of time, God, with the cooperation of Mary of Nazareth, sent his second persona into the world as Jesus Christ. Thus, the vacant post of the "first human person" was occupied by God, who was with the people. The Old Testament had already prophesied that women would bear children without intercourse (cf. Isa 7:14). The prophecy was fulfilled in the New Testament through Mary of Nazareth. Since the birth of the first child by in-vitro fertilisation in the UK in 1978, many women have already given birth to children outside of intercourse. The event that took place with the birth of Jesus became a prophecy about our time in the future (cf. Rev 19:10). This process of prophecy fulfilment demonstrates the involvement of God's reality in human history. 

From the above, we can see that God created man male and female so that human beings might be transformed by the Holy Spirit into the likeness of the Triune God. Hence, Jesus Christ led his chosen Apostles into the priesthood of the New Covenant, by which the Eucharist is produced. The Apostles who received the priesthood became the foundation of the Church that Jesus had given birth to by his death on the Cross (cf. Rev 21:14). The Church depicted in the San Damiano Crucifix is indeed composed of the people created new men and women. The Father's passion blows into it through the Holy Spirit. 

Maria K. M.

 2025/01/20

179. The Prophesied One, part 4

St Francis of Assisi accepted the diaconate despite having the "vocation of Jesus". And he received the Stigmata. That was because he was a male Christian. We shall examine this based on the following words of the risen Jesus, who commanded Mary Magdalene: "[G]o to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God" (Jn 20:17). 

The place of "my brethren" was where Simon Peter and John, described as "the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved" (Jn 20:2), stayed, the house to which Mary Magdalene ran to inform them when she saw the stone removed from the tomb. It was the house to which Jesus sent Peter and John on an errand the previous Thursday to prepare for the "day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed" (Luke 22:7). At that time, Jesus told them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house which he enters, and tell the householder, 'The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?' And he will show you a large upper room furnished; there make ready" (22:10-12). Peter and John experienced just what Jesus said. They stayed in that house, which contained "the guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples".  

After the descent of the Holy Spirit, they would routinely experience the scene where they met a man carrying a water jar, followed him to the house he was entering and asked the householder for something. That is because the man carrying the water jar was the Holy Spirit, and the house he entered was the house, which contained "the guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples", the place where the Mass liturgy is celebrated. The householder of the house was the Father. What priests ask of the Father is the highest they can ask for in this life: "They may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ". In that house where Peter and John had prepared the Passover meal, Jesus instituted the Eucharist. The Holy Spirit and the Father were also present. The Apostles, who sat around the table with Jesus, were witnesses to and heirs of his work. The future of all believers who would sit at the table together was also there owing to them. God is at the table with us. 

So, the risen Jesus used the phrase "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God", which seemed that he deliberately put distance between himself and the Apostles, but that was to direct their eyes to the Father. God has guided and walked with his chosen people through several old covenants throughout history until he sent Jesus into the world. When Jesus asked his disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" (Mt 16:15) Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (16:16), to which Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (16:17). The Father's passion was already upon the male members of the "Christians", the new people, at this time. 

The image of the San Damiano Crucifix makes us realise the meaning of the same scene in the Gospel of John by appealing to our visual senses. Behind the two women depicted to the left of Jesus, i.e., Mary Magdalene with "the vocation of Jesus" and Mary, wife of Clopas with "the vocation of Joseph", there are, implicitly, men with those vocations. However, they are not depicted. That is because they are Christian men who, when the conditions are right, must be ready to receive the "vocation of Mary", i.e. the priesthood, even immediately, in response to the needs of the Church. 

St Francis received the diaconate in response to the needs of the Church, even though he had the "vocation of Jesus". He received the Stigmata, and it was the Father's reward to him for this. 

To be continued.

Maria K. M.