Group examines Bishop’s book

GREEN POND  This Lent, a group of parishioners of St. Simon the Apostle here have been sharing their walk with Jesus on the road to Calvary and “visiting” sites in the Holy Land related to his crucifixion, death and resurrection one night a week without having to leave the parish center — all thanks to their virtual tour guides, Bishop Serratelli and Father Richard Bay, their pastor.

These parishioners have been gathering on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the parish center for an out-of-the-ordinary Lenten group discussion, which has been examining Bishop Serratelli’s new book, “From the Cross to the Empty Tomb.” The 96-page book invites readers to become more strengthened in their own spiritual journeys by walking with the people who spent Jesus’ last hours with him on earth. Father Bay has also been showing participants at St. Simon’s photos of related sites that he snapped on a diocesan pilgrimage to the Holy Land from Jan. 23 to 30 — led by Bishop Serratelli.

The book gives people a deeper feeling of the Passion, Death and Crucifixion of Jesus — the people, the places and what happened. It has been deepening the spirituality of parishioners in the discussion group and serves as continuing adult faith formation for them,” Father Bay said.

Published by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. of Totowa in the Paterson Diocese, the small soft-cover book has been introducing St. Simon’s faithful to the main Gospel characters just before and after Jesus’ Resurrection and offers a several-page reflection on each of them. They include: Peter, Judas, Pontius Pilate, Barabbas, the crowd, the Good Thief, Mary, the Centurion and Mary Magdalene, as well as others. The book also includes images of paintings and descriptions of the Stations of the Cross.

In the first gathering, group participants met Peter, Judas and Pilate in the first three chapters of “From the Cross to the Empty Tomb.” The Beacon visited the group on March 14, when they got more acquainted with Barabbas, Simon of Cyrene and the Daughters of Jerusalem in the next three chapters. Many of them were surprised to find out from Bishop Serratelli the rather shocking first name of Barabbas: Jesus. Barabbas was considered a zealot, a troublemaker and a bandit and the Gospel writers refused to let him share his first name with the Messiah’s in print, the Bishop writes.

“Originally, the Romans charged Barabbas with blasphemy, which did not violate Roman law. So Pilate gave the crowd another verdict for Jesus: being ‘The King of the Jews.’ The Jewish people hated Jesus and spared Barabbas from death, because Christ was not the warrior king they wanted to free them from the Romans. Instead, he was the warrior to lead them to spiritual freedom,” said Father Bay, before showing the audience slides of the Church of the Betrayal in Jerusalem, where Jesus was held and Pilate tried and convicted him. “Jesus was tied up with his hands high up, so the Romans could scourge him.”

Participants met Simon of Cyrene, a model of discipleship, because he “literally walked in Jesus’ footsteps” by carrying the crossbeam of his cross. Father Bay added, “We learn from him that we all carry our own crosses in life.” Then they got more acquainted with the Daughters of Jerusalem, various women in the court of King Solomon. On the way to Calvary, he told the women that they should not weep for him but for the troubles soon to come upon them and those they love (Lk 23:28). Cryptically, he compared that moment in Jewish history as a time of “dry wood” — when the people would not accept Jesus and Salvation, Father Bay said.

Also, Father Bay spoke about why it was important for Jesus to die in such as horrific, dramatic and public way on a cross in Jerusalem.

“Jesus needed the world to know that he was really dead [by people actually watching him die]. He died in Jerusalem to show the Jewish people that he triumphed over death and their attempts kill him,” Father Bay said.

In the final chapter of the book with Mary Magdalene, Bishop Serratelli notes, “The life of every Christian is a continual sharing in the cross. Not just in the first century of ancient Rome but also in every age, there is the temptation to run, like Peter, from the hostility and persecution that we face in living as a true follower of Jesus. The world does not value all that Jesus taught.

“As Christians, we make our life-journey in union with Christ Crucified. The via cruces [the way of the cross] is the school of Christian life. As Peter once asked Jesus, the world questions each of us today, ‘Quo Vadis?’ — ‘Where are you going?’ [in Latin]. It will help each of us respond to this question by accompanying Jesus on the way to the cross,” writes Bishop Serratelli.

One participant, Vince Esposito, said, “I have learned a lot of things that I didn’t know about the faith.” Like many group members, he said that he considers the Lenten discussion group a continuation of St. Simon’s ongoing Bible study and noted that it’s “a way to update myself on my faith.” Another member, Madelon Sarti, called the discussion group “a form of prayer — a time to study and read about God and expand our thoughts.”
 

[Information: Catholic Book Publishing (877) 228-2665 or visit www.catholicbookpublishing.com]