As Term 1 draws to a close, this week in chapel we have been looking at the artwork of Spanish painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Bartolomé from an early age was drawn to reflecting on the human experiences of Jesus that are common to many people. As a young boy, he found a painting hung in the family home that depicted Jesus as a stern and authoritarian shepherd of sheep confronting. While his parents were at work, using his own paint brush, Bartolomé doctored the artwork to show Jesus as a local youth walking no longer with a sheep but a dog. While his parents were outraged, it marked a desire in the young painter to paint Jesus in ways the viewer could relate to when viewing his art. The image of Jesus caring for us prompted Bartolomé in 1660 to paint his own image of Christ the Good Shepherd (pictured below).
Bartolomé made the choice to include an outstretched leg to invite the viewer to consider that Jesus is someone who is a participant in the adventure of life. In 1688, Bartolomé used his art to explore how events in Jerusalem in what we now know as Holy Week impacted those who knew Jesus both on Earth and in heaven. In the artwork Piety (pictured above), Bartolomé tried to convey that Jesus came from God to bring us back to God.
Middle School Easter Service
Our Middle School Easter service invited all in attendance to reflect on the experiences of Peter in Jerusalem at the first Easter. Peter reminds us that God knows what the future will bring and we can be part of God’s future. Peter learnt through all he saw during Holy Week, the first Easter, that God cares for us and, when we say and do things we regret, with God’s help, we can start again and move forward confident in the knowledge that God loves us.
Jesus’s sacrifice and empty tomb became a permanent statement for Peter that nothing can separate us from God, now or for all eternity. In the coming days, may the words of Jesus remind us to think about how we act towards others and whose worldviews are worth listening to.
Finally a note of thanks to Martin Arnold, music staff, readers, singers and musicians involved in the Middle School Easter Service. Looking ahead, we will be remembering Old Carey Grammarian George Richard Taylor at our Anzac Day service in Term 2.
I hope you all have a restful break and change to routines in some way in the coming days. May the following prayer based on the written by Saint Hippolytus of Rome in the third century help guide our decision making.
Let us pray. Loving God because you raised Jesus from the dead the agendas of the world have been challenged, the forces of evil are fallen, those from eternity are rejoicing, and those we see no more, we will see again. Help us to make choices that ensure we are with you Heavenly Father forever and ever. Amen.
Scott Bramley
Middle School Chaplain
