Day Five • Page Five: Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes

Bailey Walter, M. Div

Assistant for formation and outreach at the School of Theology and Seminary at Saint John's University

In Mark’s gospel, Jesus’ heart is moved by a group of people who are hungry.  Upon receiving the
request to let the people go and buy food, Jesus tells his disciples to feed them. With five loaves and two fish, Jesus and his disciples feed the crowd.  This beautiful illumination captures the multiplication of the loaves and fishes with its abundance of gold and color that consumes much of the page, alluding to the abundance at the divine banquet. Today, our world contains a much larger crowd of hungry people than the 5,000 that Jesus encounters in this story; close to one billion people go hungry each day.

In his Message for World Food Day in 2013, Pope Francis called world hunger a global scandal. Many of us who live in developed countries view food as a luxury and have access to it in abundance. Catholic Social Teaching and Pope Francis remind us that the primary function of food is to nourish our bodies and sustain life. Food is a basic human right for all people. We each have a responsibility to heed Jesus’ instructions that he gave to his disciples when he said, “You give them something to eat” (Mk 6:37).  There are many ways in which we can help: participation in a local food shelf, getting involved with national relief efforts such as Catholic Relief Services, and being conscious of personal food consumption and waste, just to name a few.  How will you respond to Jesus’ call to feed the crowd?


Image credit: Multiplication of The Loaves and Fishes, Donald Jackson, © 2002, The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota USA. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, © 1993, 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

Day Four • Page Four: A Reflection on Peter’s Confession

 Rev. Michael Patella, OSB

Professor of New Testament and seminary rector at the School of Theology and Seminary at Saint John's University, Collegeville, MN

In this illumination, Jesus is rendered entirely in gold. He is shown in the center with the enlarged text, “You are the Messiah the Son of the Living God” (Mt 16:16). He is alive, fully incarnate, standing in the midst of a contemporary representation of hell.

The Church is the sacramental presence of Christ in the world.  Just as Satan and the forces of evil tried in vain to eliminate Christ by death, they attempt, also in vain, to eradicate those baptized in Jesus’ name by the same means.  Christ’s words to Peter, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18) is the guarantee that sin and death have long failed in subverting God’s ultimate plan of redemption.

Historians agree that we are in a period of Christian persecution greater in scope than the Church has ever before faced, even greater than the persecutions under ancient Rome. The faith and hope etched on the face of current martyrs, such as the Coptic Christians on the beach in Libya just before ISIS beheaded them, is proof that the gates of Hades (Hell) will not “prevail against it” (Mt 16:18). In Pope Francis’ recent homily celebrating the feasts of Peter and Paul, he commended these martyrs for their supreme witness as they died with Jesus’ name on their lips. Additionally Pope Francis implored that those of us, who are fortunate to experience peace and prosperity, continue to witness to Christ as well as set aside time to pray to God, who does not abandon his children. How else might you stand in solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters undergoing persecution?


Image credit: Peter’s Confession, Donald Jackson, © 2002,
The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Day Three • Page Three: A Reflection on the Ten Commandments

Rev. Michael Patella, OSB

Professor of New Testament and seminary rector at the School of Theology and Seminary at Saint John's University, Collegeville, MN

Human society and civilization depend upon right relationships, and those relationships can only succeed when there is proper respect shown to God and neighbor.  The Ten Commandments, as a compendium of laws foundational to the well-being of all humankind, connects the homage due to God alone (Ex 20:1-11) with the obligations and deportment shown to neighbor (Ex 20:12-17).        

In Laudato Si’ Pope Francis proclaims that when we neglect to identify God as the all-powerful One who alone has created the world, “we end up worshiping earthly powers, or ourselves usurping the place of God” (75). When we place ourselves at the center of the universe, our personal and communal lives will disintegrate and vanish as do the letters at the bottom of the page. Only when we as humans recognize that God is the Lord of the cosmos and we are the fruit of his loving creation do human relationships function in a way that reflects the love and goodness of our Creator.  

Exodus 20:1 says, “Then God spoke all these words...” What does God’s voice sound like as you hear the Ten Commandments? In what ways do God’s commands allow you to love more freely? 


Image credit: Ten Commandments, Thomas Ingmire, © 2002 The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota USA. Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

Day Two • Page Two: A Reflection on Abraham and Sarah

Rev. Michael Patella, OSB

Professor of New Testament and seminary rector at the School of Theology and Seminary at Saint John's University, Collegeville, MN

The Menorah, the ancient symbol of Judaism, repeats across the double folio, dominating the illumination.  This is the moment in salvation history where the Lord seals the covenant with Abraham, a moment so important that it is recounted twice, once at Genesis 15:1-21 and again at Genesis 17:1-19.

While Abraham also has a son, Ishmael, through Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar, the Lord forms his covenant through Isaac, the son of Abraham and his wife, Sarah.  Their descendants include Isaac and Rebekah’s son, Jacob, and his twelve sons along with the whole royal line of David, a lineage that ends with Jesus.  For this reason, the Menorah also becomes the primary symbol in the Matthew frontispiece, which recites Jesus’ genealogy and confirms his connection with the Abrahamic Covenant.

Pope Francis reminds us in Evangelii Gaudium, that this covenant between God and the Jewish people has never been revoked (247). As Christians we must honor the sacred roots that our identity has in Judaism. We are enriched by the complementarity of our concern for justice and well-being of peoples, which we have inherited from the Jewish tradition (247-249).

In what ways do you hold the covenant sacred over time?

Image credit: Abraham and Sarah, Donald Jackson, © 2003, The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University,Collegeville, Minnesota. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, © 1993, 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Day One • Page One: A Reflection on Creation

Dr. Barbara Sutton

Associate Dean for Formation and Outreach at the School of Theology and Seminary at Saint John's University


In this illumination Donald Jackson, artist and calligrapher, dares to illuminate that which leaves us speechless. Seven days of creation, choreographed by God: heavens and earth, sea and sky, birds and beasts. With eyes of faith, a new ‘world view’ emerges. Chaos turns into order. God calls forth light from darkness; and then breathes life into human kind. In this first panel we see a sliver of gold shining in the center of darkness and chaos.  It explodes outward as if driven by a powerful force that wrestles the remaining days into order with God hallowing the seventh day.  These seven days, hinged with gold, open the doors of a greater mystery that rest in silence on the horizon. Silence is golden. Entering the seventh day requires courage to enter the silence as the Unspeakable shows itself as the thread of light that holds the web of life together.

While this illumination appears to be a well-oiled machine, brought out of chaos and hinged together by God, it is not.  It does not run on its own!  It has been ruptured by sin.  Pope Francis in his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ suggests that human life is hinged on three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbor, and with the earth itself.  He writes, “The harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations.  This in turn distorted our mandate to ‘have dominion’ over the earth (cf. Gen 1:28), to ‘till and keep it’ (Gen 2:15)…our sin is manifest in all its destructive power in wars, violence and abuse, the abandonment of the most vulnerable, and attacks on nature” (66).

On the sixth day God looked at everything and saw it was very good. God wanted us to revel in the Garden and in love.  Woven into the sixth day of this illumination is Chris Tomlin’s coral snake leading us away from resting in God symbolized by the figures turning their backs away from the light.

We live in a world where constant activity is the norm. We run from one event to another, arriving at a new place before our minds and hearts are able to let go of what we were doing or where we were.  We pass through life and do not allow ourselves to experience deeply or be touched by people. We are in need of soul-searching.  We must learn again love, compassion and honor so that we might heal the earth.  How might you be held in the light? Restore harmony to creation?

Image credit: Creation 2, Donald Jackson, © 2003, The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

O'Grady Library helps celebrate Pope Francis's visit to the United States

In an effort coordinated by the Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota, the O'Grady Library at Saint Martin's University is participating in the "Illuminating the Mission: 7 Pages-7 Days" project to celebrate the historic first visit of Pope Francis to the United States.  In this effort, institutions that hold and display copies of the Saint John's Bible will display for seven days the same page and have a common brief reflection on the image featured on each page as a gesture of unity.

Rev. Michael Patella, OSB, of the Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary said, "These particular Illuminations were specifically chosen because they resonate with values Pope Francis holds dear: hospitality; concern for the poor, sick, and marginalized; the dignity of all people; and care for creation."

SMU's copy of the Saint John's Bible in the entry way of the O'Grady Library

The final volume of the of the Saint John's Bible was recently presented to Pope Francis in April.  Abbot John Klassen, OSB, of Saint John's Abbey reported that the Pope reacted to the illumination of the Vision of the New Jerusalem by "[lifting] his hands with a smile on his face in a gesture of joy and appreciation."1  The volumes are a contemporary illuminated Bible that were commissioned by Saint John's Abbey and University in 1998.

The 7 Pages-7 Days effort will feature illuminations for passages in in the books of Genesis, Exodus, Matthew, Mark, and the Acts of the Apostles.  If you are interested in seeing SMU's copy of The Saint John's Bible or have any questions about it, please contact Fr. Peter Tynan, University Chaplin and Archivist: Fr_Peter@stmartin.edu.

A list of participating institutions includes:

Assumption College - MA	Loyola Notre Dame Library - MD
Azusa Pacific University - CA	Loyola University Chicago - IL
Baptist Theological Seminary - VA	Malone University p OH
Berea College	Molloy College - NY
Brigham Young University - UT	Mount Marty College - SD
Carson Newman College - TN	Mount Saint Mary College - NY
Cathedral Church of St. John - AZ	Mount St. Benedict Monastery - Website
Cathedral of Christ the Light - CA	Saint Agnes Medical Center - CA
Chaminade University - HI	Saint John's University - MN
College of Saint Mary - NE	Saint Martin’s University - WA
Creighton University - NE	St Mary's University College - Canada
Edgewood College - WI	Saint Catherine University - MN
Fairfield University - CT	St. Hubert Catholic Community - MN
Franciscan Renewal Center - AZ	St. John's Cathedral - CO
George Fox University - OR	St. Mary's College - IN
Gonzaga University - WA	Saint Peter's University - NJ
Gustavus Adolphus College - MN	University of Dayton - OH
Holy Family Catholic High School - MN	University of Mary - ND
Houston Baptist University - TX	University of Minnesota - MN
John Carroll University - OH	University of Portland  OR
La Roche College - PA	Xavier University - OH
Loyola Marymount University – CA

1. See "His Holiness Pope Francis Received Final Volume of The Saint John's Bible at the Vatican" on The Saint John's Bible website: http://www.saintjohnsbible.org/promotions/lp/francis/

Welcome Student Workers!

After the usual hectic start of the semester, the 2015-16 contingent of library student workers has been set and oriented on Friday evening, September 11.

Students had training in their various duties, created and presented slides to each other on policies, and decorated library carts which they used in running a relay race.

And, of course, pizza.