THE SALVATION OF THE WOLVES

 

THE SALVATION OF THE WOLVES

Gondla is a play by the Russian poet Nikolay Gumilyov, written at the time of the Russian Revolution (1917). Its theme is a clash of worldviews portrayed in an allegory about wolves (pagans Icelanders) and swans (Christian Irish people). (It has nothing to do with the actual people of Iceland or Ireland). Neither wolves nor swans are common in Africa but the former represent savage power drawing blood with their sharp teeth and claws while the latter, large white birds which spend their time gliding gently on lakes and rivers, stand for grace, calm, beauty and peace.

Gondla is an Irish prince who is drawn to a royal Icelandic princess, Lera, but she is in two minds and surrounded by cruel warriors out to destroy him. As the story unfolds, Gondla is increasingly cornered and everyone deserts him including Lera although she has a lingering feeling of love for him. The climax of the story comes when Gondla sacrifices himself as the only way out of the dilemma. The wolves gather round his dead body and realise the transcendent power at work in him and become converted. Lera has the final word;

We are going away

to a swan place, a place not of this earth,

Love’s open sea, the open sea of love!   

 

This Sunday we celebrate Christ the King, a feast instituted by the Church at about the same time as Gondla was written. The aim of the celebration was to remind us of Jesus’ words to Pilate, ‘I am a king. For this I came into this word.’ And to remind us that he spoke these words as he was going to his death. In Luke’s version, which we read today, his death leads to the conversion of a wolf even before he expires; ‘In truth I tell you, this day you will be with me in paradise.’

 

The kingship, the leadership, of Jesus is manifested on the cross where his torn and twisted wolf-lacerated body is exposed to the world. This sight is the fundamental announcement of the gospel message. Our world is a world of pain and it will only be saved by people who ‘carry’ this cross, one way or another, in their lives. As the Church closes its year, this is the one message we take away.    

 

20 November 2022       Christ the King             2 Sam 5:1-3                  Col 1:12-20      Lk 23:35-40