Leonardo wanted sixty beggars to accompany his bier. What was he trying to tell the world?
BOBBY JOSE KATTIKAD OFM CAP
The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men -Leonardo da Vinci.
For the world Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) is probably known only as a painter. He also needs to be remembered as someone with extraordinary inner light. He did things which would be considered eccentric by others. He had the habit of buying and letting free the birds that were kept for sale on the street. The posthumous journey also had some glimmers of light. The head of state himself witnessed his last hours. Yet he wanted sixty beggars to accompany his bier. What was he trying to tell the world? Was it to proclaim that his destiny is no better than that of the men who accompanied him?
He remembers a childhood abandoned by his father. His father was not ready to accept his mother who was from a poor background. The child’s foster father was another who shared
the same poverty. It was from there that he journeyed all this distance that we know. His passing from this world was in the throes of realizing that he was just a beggar. That alone is right if we understand our reality. Everything you say and everything you value is the gold coin you shed. Just remember Alla Picha Mollakka.
Jesus’ Last Supper is now celebrated as Eucharist. That Greek word means ‘thanksgiving’. It has been described as such since the first century. This is how Ignatius of Antioch and the martyr Justin marked that Supper. Life becomes more loving when we understand the principles of prayer as a time to be thankful. It carries with- in it only grains of tears. Yet why aren’t the tears flowing when you touch life?
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