J.S. Bach's St. John Passion

In honor of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, one of the early exponents of historically informed performance who passed away on March 5, I am posting the following video of his performance of J.S. Bach's St. John Passion from 1985. Bach's St. John Passion is not as well known as his St. Matthew Passion. Nevertheless, the opening chorus is as powerful and moving as any other piece he wrote. The heavy emphasis on the lordship and glorification of Jesus Christ is a fitting meditation on his person and mission, especially since the Gospel readings at Mass for this time in the liturgical year (after Laetare Sunday and Passion Sunday) were traditionally drawn heavily from the Gospel of St. John. It may be a bit of a surprise, but some of the ideas to be found in the Lutheran Bach's work mesh very well with Catholic theology.

Discerning the Hero Within

With Lent just around the corner, I wanted to let you know that I am planning a series of posts designed for introspection and discernment this season. I will be taking as my jump-off point Matt Bird's Hero Project on his Cockeyed Caravan blog.  I hesitate to call these reflections "spiritual," since (a) I am by no means a spiritual director and, (b) they are drawn from a blog of a man for whose theological or spiritual bona fides I cannot vouch.

So what will these reflections be, and why?  The format will be simple: a few questions about oneself each week, for consideration.  The why is a little more complicated.  Bird is a script writer and film critic.  His musings on heroes approach philosophical questions, though from a dramatic angle.  At the heart of things, he wants to know what makes a hero.

All this is relevant to a Christian seeking self-knowledge in light of God's calling, because God calls us to be heroes.  Christianity is not about nice people sitting around and generally being nice to one another.  It is about amazing creatures - hybrids of spiritual and material substance - who are created good, who fall into evil, are rescued, and are then commissioned to share in the work of their rescuer, Jesus Christ, the Hero Par Excellence.

Bird's work asks about the relationship between heroes' strengths and weaknesses, the different kinds of heroes, and how the hero discovers his or her calling.  As Bird explains:

Anybody can become a hero, but they can’t become a hero by doing what anybody would do. They have to succeed because of something unique about them, not just because you put them up in a tree and threw rocks at them.

I intend to pose questions which allow readers to examine these matters in their own lives, and in a way that might be fitting for Lent.

Today's image was found here.