Arrr… Danger ahoy!

From Peter Pan to the Pirates of the Caribbean, everyone loves a good pirate story. But real pirates aren’t silly swashbucklers like the romanticized treasure hunters we know from movies and books.
On Wednesday, April 8, 2009, four ordinary-looking Somali fisherman, all less than 20 years old, used grappling hooks and rope ladders to board the merchant vessel ship Maersk Alabama. Armed with AK-47 assault rifles, they were seeking to take control of the ship and its crew at gunpoint.
The ship was off the coast of Somalia, carrying medical supplies and food destined for refugee camps. Some of these things belonged to Catholic Relief Services.

Violence breeds violence

Somalia is probably best remembered from the movie Black Hawk Down. Recently, however, this north-east African country has been in the news for many of these types of pirate attacks.
Years of civil war and unrest have left the country very poor, and so many people there turn to violent means of providing for themselves and their families.

Somalia has hundreds of miles of coastline along very busy shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean. Ships here are an easy target for these pirates. Sometimes the pirates are interested in stealing the cargo on the ships. However, most of the time they are looking to get ransom money.

Walking the plank

When they learned that there were pirates on board, the crew went below deck and locked themselves in safe rooms. They had managed to capture one pirate. Only the captain and one other crew member stayed on deck to negotiate with the pirates. What happened next is what makes this particular story very different from the other cases of piracy in the news lately.
The captain of this ship, Captain Richard Phillips, was so concerned about the safety of his crew that he did something unthinkable… He asked the pirates to take him as their prisoner, and in return let his crew take the ship and go free. Once the ship and crew were at a safe distance, they would exchange Captain Phillips for the captured pirate.

Tide turns against him

The three armed pirates liked the idea. Capt. Phillips led them to one of the ships small lifeboats, climbed in it, and had it lowered into the water. Captain Phillips was in close quarters with the men who could easily have killed him at any moment. He showed them how to operate the boat. And then the plan went horribly wrong. The crew of the Alabama, as they had agreed, brought out the injured pirate for the trade. But now that the pirates had their friend, they didn’t release their prisoner. They kept Capt. Phillips as a hostage, and were holding him for ransom.

For five days these bandits held him under constant guard. There was water and food, but there were no bathrooms or showers. It was unbearably hot in the enclosed lifeboat; so much so that Capt. Phillips said he dreaded the sun coming up in the morning. The captain and his captors sat, waiting. The pirates weren’t sleeping and were becoming agitated.

At one point, Capt. Phillips even tried to escape. He pushed one of the pirates guarding him overboard, and dove in the water and swam away. He swam towards a US Navy ship, the USS Bainbridge, that was following them. But it was nearly a half mile away. Before long, he was caught again; only now the pirates were very angry with him.

Is Davey Jones comin’?

By this point, the outcome didn’t look too bright for Captain Phillips. “It was just settling everything. Getting ready to die and just settling everything. You know, saying my last thoughts. Andrea, the kids.” He no longer believed he would leave that boat alive. He wondered why the pirates were dragging things out when he was certain they would kill him in the end anyway.

He had known when he went with them that there was a chance he would die. But he had been willing to take that chance freely, to spare his crew. Now, faced with what seemed certain death, he was at peace with his decision.

Watching and waiting

Thousands of miles away, in a tiny town in Vermont, the Phillips family was experiencing the turmoil of wondering what was happening to their husband and father. “We did not know what Richard was enduring while being held hostage on the lifeboat, and that was really the hardest part… the wondering,” said Mrs. Andrea Phillips.

Mariah, the captain’s 19 year old daughter, expressed the shock of learning that this had actually happened to her family: “This is something that happens to other people. Obviously, I am other people.”

They received visits from Fr. Danielson, their parish priest, who prayed with them and told them not to lose hope.  Captain Phillips was unaware that there were other forces at work in his story. There was prayer power gathering and there was planning by the US Navy.

Living the mystery

These events came about at a very appropriate time of year. The day Capt. Phillips was captured was the Wednesday of Holy Week. The time he made his escape attempt was probably around the time we remember Jesus’ agony in the garden.

On Easter Sunday morning, Fr. Danielson told the Phillips’ friends and neighbors that they should pray more intensely for Capt. Phillips. Father said he believed Capt. Phillips’ story would serve as an example; just like Christ Jesus’ suffering led to His Resurrection, once again God and His goodness would triumph over evil in the end.

A Storm breaks loose

Later in the evening on Easter Sunday, things became extremely tense on the little life boat. One of the pirates had gone aboard the USS Bainbridge for medical treatment, and to try and arrange the ransom payment. When the other three pirates hadn’t heard from him in a while, they got restless. They climbed out of the hatch of the life boat in plain view, and began firing warning shots in the air. The Bainbridge and the lifeboat were both moving, and the waves were bouncing them up and down in the darkness.

Capt. Phillips had no idea what was going on. As he heard the shots, he dove to the deck and got as low as he could. He thought perhaps the pirates were fighting against each other. Or perhaps they were getting ready to kill him.

Salvation is from the SEAL’s

US Navy SEAL snipers took advantage of the opportunity, firing one perfect shot at each pirate. After what felt like a long time, but was only a few seconds later, Capt. Phillips heard the beautiful sound of a US Navy SEAL’s voice, asking him if he was alright. He was saved.

“Hi, Honey…”

A short time later, back at home, Mrs. Phillips, their daughter Mariah, their son Daniel, and their whole family were relieved and elated to hear Captain Phillips himself, on the phone, telling them he was safe.
Mariah said, “You never know how strong your family can be when something like this happens.”
In a statement about how they survived the emotional torture of the five day ordeal, Mrs. Phillips said, “My family and closest friends held onto our faith knowing that Richard would come home.”

“I need a hero…”

What makes Captain Phillips a hero? Is it in conquering or strength? No. Like Jesus, his willingness to surrender himself as a prisoner, to suffer, and accept even death is where we find his true heroism.
Captain Richard Phillips is an example of love and respect for life. The lives of his shipmates meant so much to him, that he would offer up his own to save them. This is the ultimate sign of love and sacrifice. Whether he realized it at the time or not, Capt. Phillips was imitating Jesus Christ, at the very time when Jesus made the sacrifice that saves us all. He willingly offered himself to save others. He spent a few days in a little “tomb-like” capsule, and on Easter Sunday he got to taste a little bit of Jesus’ Easter victory.

Just doing his job

Captain Phillips does not consider himself a hero. For him, what he did was just part of his job. He had accepted the job as a captain, and that meant putting the safety of his crew above his own. Yet there is something we admire about this attitude. When we see his example, we know we have met a real man, a man who puts others first.
True manhood is about service and sacrifice. These are qualities we also admire in so many women, especially our own moms (Happy Mother’s Day to all our moms!), but there is something we typically think of as particularly masculine about the willingness to face danger and take a huge risk for others. Men were designed by God to be protectors. They are called to protect their family and protect their communities. They are designed by God to overcome the fear of danger, because sometimes real life is dangerous. Sometimes risk is necessary for really important things.

Imitating Christ

Jesus Christ was a real man. He overcame his fear of danger. He put our safety above his own. Christ, by his life and death, helps men discover what it means to be a man. Let’s ask Christ to raise up more real men today.
For those of us who are guys, we can make a resolution to learn to love others so much that we are willing to sacrifice for them.
For girls, let’s start thanking some of the real men in our lives for what they do for us, starting with our own dads, or those other men who help keep us safe. And let’s show the guys that we also know how to sacrifice with courage, putting our hearts and lives at the service of goodness and love. The world will be a better, safer place.
Christ wants us to help him do this. It’s part of the call to love that he makes to each of us.

Fr Jason Smith gave us this awesome Podcast on the Passion of Christ… Check it out…

It is a large file, so be aware it may take a minute to get started…

We like to think that we are really grown up when we can do our own thing. Jesus Christ challenges that assumption. Obedience to God is where the real power lies. It is a different kind of power: the power to set men free.

“By his loving obedience to the Father, ‘unto death, even death on a cross’ (Phil 2:8), Jesus fulfils the atoning mission (cf. Is 53:10) of the suffering Servant, who will ‘make many righteous’; ‘and he shall bear their iniquities’ (Is 53:11; cf. Rom 5:19)”

Obedience is not easy for us. It wasn’t for Christ as a man either. In Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of the Christ”, there are many moments in which Christ’s obedience to the Father stands out. Let’s talk about three especially powerful ones.

Agony in Gethsemani
“Let this cup pass… not my will but Thy will be done.” (Lk 22:39-42)

The Gospel of Luke gives a detailed account of the Agony. In the dark, Jesus has his battle about the apparent futility of the Passion.

First, what he is about to undergo seems useless because it is a suffering that human nature automatically rejects; for no one likes the idea of pain. Christ knows he is about to go through the worst type of pain that man can dream up for another man.

Second, Christ’s agony is increased because he realizes that his sacrifice would not work for some souls- those who refuse to obey God and their conscience.

Finally, the gratuitous nature of the Passion makes it seem senseless. It could have happened in another form. However, God wanted to show His love for us in this extreme fashion and wanted Christ to give us the maximum example of obedience: “unto death, death on a Cross” (Flp 2:8).

Back in the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus had been tempted by the devil in the desert. (Lk 4: 13). Jesus had been victorious over the devil in the desert, and the Gospel says that the devil had “departed from him until an opportune time”. That opportune time is now, when Jesus is to make His final decision to obey the Father to the last consequences.

That decision was made in prayer, as must our decisions. Here we find our Lord giving the perfect example of how to live our lives. Prayer is not a superfluous addition. Prayer is essential to human existence because we are creatures of God, in need of Him. We are not doing God a favor when we pray, but we are receiving heavenly favors from Him when we pray. This is called grace.

There was certainly the temptation of the devil for Jesus to abandon the idea of the Cross and obedience. The movie shows this very well. Jesus overcomes the devil again because He will obey God the Father. The devil always goes for disobedience.

The Scourging
“Father, my heart is ready” (Cf. Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15; Lk 23:16; Jn 19:1).

There are many moments to comment in this moving scene. First, Jesus does not resist when they fasten Him to the pillar. He is not fighting against the Passion, because of His love for us. He willingly accepts suffering to save us from eternal condemnation. He doesn’t scream and kick, or cause a scandal while they literally rip Him apart with their diabolical instruments of torture. It is horrible what my sins have done to Jesus.

There is an especially moving moment which meaningfully demonstrates Christ’s obedience. After the first round of bruising that they give Him with their switches, Jesus falls to the floor. That is the way the body reacts. When they relent from that onslaught, He realizes He is down and lifts Himself back up. “Father, my heart is ready”, He says. Jesus knows that this is the ransom for sin, and He is no sissy. Christ’s love for us is incalculable. “Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man -- though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5: 7-8). Loving obedience and obedience for love, that is the mystery of the Christ’s passion and death.

Christ’s death on the cross
“Father into Thy hands I commend My Spirit. (Lk 23:46).

Some perhaps surrealistic happenings during the crucifixion and death of Jesus are depicted in “The Passion”. These are the attempts of an artist to show that all of creation was trembling due to the fact that God, the Author of life itself coming as Man, was being put to death by men. Though this happened in a specific place in the world, it was the sins of all of us that crucified Jesus.

The devil was thinking (his mind so obscured by pride), that this was finally the moment of his victory over Jesus and God. What a dreamer! Jesus, through His humility and obedience was willfully winning our redemption.

Jesus knew he was winning, even though winning meant living all the pain and loneliness that man feels in his soul when he sins. For this reason Christ quoted Scripture from that excruciating position: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me” (PS 22)? Then to fulfill the Scripture said: “I thirst”. He is obeying the Father, even through what was written about Him in the ancient Scriptures (because inspired by God) was horrible and full of pain! Jesus is able to recognize God’s will wherever it may come from.

Then He finally says the words the audience is awaiting Him to say: “Father into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.” By that time the tension is overwhelming. When will this torture finish? You feel it is not soon enough; too weighty the expectation.

Jesus wanted it that way. He does not measure out grudgingly his love for us and for the Father. He is not petty but magnanimous, because that is not the way his Father is. Jesus shows the depth of true love. No fair mixing in egotism or personal pleasures. Love is obedient and long-suffering. There is no valid substitute. Either it goes all the way to giving one’s whole life, or it is not true love. Small pieces of the heart will never pump life-supplying blood.

Definitions
Obedience- the virtue of submitting our will to the will of God.

Humility- the moral virtue that restrains the unruly desire for personal greatness. Humility leads us to an orderly love of self based on a true appreciation of our position with respect to God and neighbors; the virtue of being without pride.

Discussion Questions
Do you think that God’s way of saving us (the Passion, death, and resurrection of Christ) makes God still seem distant and uncaring about man? What do you think this way of saving us shows about how much man is worth to God?

Do you think that God wants to force us to love and obey him? Does the Passion of Christ force us to love God? How does it help us to love and obey God?

In what other moments of Christ’s life can we see His obedience? Why is obedience important in the role of the Redeemer?

As a Christian, to whom should I be obedient? God? Our parents? Teachers? Boss? Husband?

Like Jesus, are my decisions made in prayer?

Personal Reflections/Writing
1. What specific incidents in my life have I been disobedient? Is there a pattern in these? Was it pride that kept me from being obedient? What concrete things can I do to root out my pride?

2. Write a page about the Christian virtue of obedience. Be sure to include some Scripture passages. Cite example of saints living out obedience.

Resolution Idea
Mediate on one of the Bible passages below. How does it speak to me and my life?

Biblical texts on obedience (see a concordance) essential passages: 1Sam 15:22; Jn 5:19; 8:29; Rm 5:19, Flp 2:8; Heb 5:8; 10:6.