6th Sunday of Easter year B - Br Luke

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

I know ! – Br Andrew will be happy with me - I've written this homily down. 

Homily preached by Br Luke at Blaxland 10th May 2015

6th Sunday of Easter year B

Gospel John 15:9-17

Well I have a slight dilemma, which of John’s passages do I choose?

Both speak of love and of salvation.  In the second reading John links Jesus’s death, baptism and the Holy Spirit as a threefold witness for divine actions.  He goes further and says that God’s testimony regarding Jesus is this:  “Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life”.  He can’t make it any clearer than that!  But what does this mean to us?  Do we have the Son of God? Indeed is this a question we have ever asked ourselves? Or do we think that because we call ourselves Christian this is enough. We assume that we have life? It really looks like a black and white question doesn't it.

In the Gospel, John records Jesus as saying: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love”.  And then Jesus says “This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you”.  Oh dear, - I suspect there are some in this world who would like to ask Jesus to rephrase that commandment.  Something along the lines of: um can we have a discussion about this Jesus? Do we really have to love one another?  I suspect he’d just silently look at us and then give us a ‘think about what you just said’ smile.

But we humans are an inventive lot, perhaps if we look hard enough, or explore the words in more detail, or interpret them differently we could find some little gap to squirm out of? Some nice loophole so that we can wander through and not concern ourselves with this instruction?  Yes, strike a chord with anyone?  After all loving one another is hard work.  Especially if the other person is - well you know - ‘not like us’.

But Jesus doesn’t let us off lightly, he tells us we are his friends if we do this.  Not his servants, not his slaves, his friends.  He tells us this because he loves us and not because he orders us to do it. We will voluntarily follow the commandment because of his love for us and our love for him.  After all, we are his friends – right? Sounds like an “O bugger” moment doesn’t it.  You know that point when you suddenly realise with absolute clarity that you’ve got no excuses, no wriggle room, you’re committed to a course of action.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go bear fruit, fruit that will last”.  Hmm remember last week’s gospel? It was about the vine.  We are the ‘grafted in’ branches and we bear fruit.  If we do not produce fruit then we get pruned out?  And here Jesus tells us, we are picked by him.  He calls us to go and work in the vineyard.  He is telling us so that we can “love one another”.  Sorry people there is no wriggle room here.  This is a divinely authored action.  Now of course the reality in our lives is that we do not follow this commandment.  Sadly we do not love one another.  If we did there would be violence, there’d be no war or conflicts, and we’d have universal peace and goodwill among the peoples of the world.

So do we just throw our hands up and say ‘it’s all too hard’.  Well no, that’s not what we do, because of we did, then as John told us earlier; “Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life”.  So our job, is to call out to the world, that love of neighbour, is not an illusion or a fanciful theory, but a real possibility.  One that we can achieve, if we stop and think. If we pause and realise that the other person is really no different from us.  Sure they may look different, they may speak a different language, they may have a different gender, or a different sexual orientation to us, but they are just like us.  They bleed if they are cut, they cry if they are sad or distressed and they laugh if they are happy – and perhaps more importantly they love, just as we do.

So my challenge for you this week, is to look for someone who is different from you and ask yourself – not them – yourself, can you see yourself in them. Can you envisage a time, when you could talk to them and perhaps even regard them as a friend, not someone to be shunned and marginalised, even harmed?  I caution you, it won’t be easy, but try anyway and then tell us about it at our Bible study on Friday.

Remember, Jesus loves us, he command us to love each other and when we do that, then we have life eternal.  Amen.

EASTER 1B: Folding Up the Past! Walking Out On Death!

“Moses said to YHWH, “But, never in my life have I been a man of eloquence,

either before or since you have spoken to your servant.” Ex 4:10

When someone dies, what do we do after the funeral? After the initial shock and sadness, the funeral and wake; What do we do? We eventually get around to giving away the dead persons clothes and decide which of their possessions we will keep or share with family and friends. Time goes by, and all the first time special days without them endured. Some will keep a picture of the deceased in a favourite room, but we do our best to move on with our lives and tend to the living. We don’t expect to see our dead again on this side of the grave. What an incredible gospel hope we hold in our hearts that those whom we have loved and who have died are alive in Christ and will share again in Resurrection life of Christ. What an even harder thing to imagine/believe that this to will and can happen to and for us.

In today's gospel (John 20:1-9) Mary Magdalen gives witness to a typical response to death and grieving. She was still close to the tragic events of 'Good Friday'. So, she goes to his tomb, “while it was still dark.” It was still too soon to pick up the pieces and carry on with life. Mary just wanted to be close to the Jesus she loved and the tomb was the last place she saw him and so she wants to be there. Then she will get on with what is left of her life. Her life she imagines will be different and difficult, because Jesus, now the centre of her life, had totally changed her. When Mary arrives at the tomb and sees it empty, she concludes, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb and we don’t know where they put him.” Later Mary meets Jesus, thinks he is the gardener only to discover he is the Risen Lord when he calls her name. She is then commissioned by Jesus to be the evangelist of the resurrection. Her new life mission, is to witness to the resurrection of the one whom she loved in the flesh. St Peter arrives with St John and goes into the empty tomb. He notes the remnants of death, but he "... failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must first rise from the dead." Jesus had to rise from the dead, otherwise we would be only having a memorial of the death of a great man. His rising from the dead makes all the difference for us believers. “Prove it!” our objectors challenge. How can we! We only have an empty tomb. But, what we do have is a heart transformed by the Risen One!

However, when St John the “one whom Jesus loved” arrives and looks into the tomb, he sees the remnants of death "the linen cloths lying on the ground ... the cloth that had been over his head ... rolled up in a place by itself" and, “he saw and he believed”. We are also those “whom Jesus loved” and we are gifted with faith-sight. In John’s gospel to receive sight is to see with the eyes of faith. We have an empty tomb and still we believe he has risen. Like the beloved disciple we “see and believe.” What stirred the disciple to believe? Did it have something to do with the neatly folded burial cloths? After all, who would steal a body and before leaving, fold the cloths? Well, it is an odd detail, but not one that would stir one to believe in the impossible. If those cloths were proof enough why didn’t they help St Peter and Mary Magdalen “see and believe?” The emphasis on the burial cloths left behind, is John’s way of saying, Jesus has left death behind and has been resurrected to new life. The beloved disciple got the message, "he saw and he believed." From his love for Jesus the disciple’s faith blossomed and as a result we, who have not yet seen, are strengthened in our faith. The beloved disciple helps us believe that we too are beloved by Jesus. Through his gospel account he wants us and our communities of faith to be witnesses to our resurrection belief and hope.

Jesus rising from the dead was not just a miracle of resuscitation. Lazarus was resuscitated, and would die again. Jesus rose from the dead, never to die again. His resurrection has brought about a whole new age. Now anything is possible, everything is different. This is seen in St Peter’s conversation with the gentile Cornelius in our first reading (Acts 10:34a, 37-43). In Jewish eyes the Gentiles were pagans and losers before God. St Peter had a vision that God wanted to save the Gentiles. Cornelius through a dream and a voice was directed to seek out the message of salvation (10:1-8). God has acted in a mighty way on behalf of the human family and included all in Jesus’ salvific action. As St Peter says, “... EVERYONE who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins in his name.” ALLELUIA!

Do We Really Want To See Jesus?

Torah

“Moses said to YHWH, “But, never in my life have I been a man of eloquence,

either before or since you have spoken to your servant.” Ex 4:10

LENT 5B: Do We Really Want To See Jesus? 

All of our lectionary readings for this Sunday make it difficult for me to choose which to develop. So I will go for Jeremiah and John. The prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34) reveals God’s new covenant with the people. Unlike that of Sinai, it will be written on each person’s heart. With the law written on the heart each person can act instinctively in God’s ways. They could live out the covenantal requirements with exterior acts that flow from a heart turned to God. “I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts.” God still seems to be writing on people’s hearts from every race, religion and nation. How many good people have we known, or heard about, who have given their lives to help others? The doctors and nurses who went to Africa to help Ebola patients or to war zones come to mind. They left their comfortable homes, careers and family, risking their lives to help others. Some out of religious conviction, others not. They just wanted to serve others in severe need. What could stir each of them to make such sacrifices? I believe that it is God who writes on our hearts and transforms them to be Christ-like.

In John's gospel (12:20-33) we see the still-writing-God at work in the Greeks who went to Philip and asked, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus?” As John was writing his gospel Christians were being persecuted and martyred as the consequence of professing their faith in Christ. So, John links the sufferings Christians must bear in their lives and the glory that awaits them as he records the words of Jesus who said; “I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies it produces much fruit.” Jesus was not just referring to gardening. Martyrdom is a reality for all Christian generations. Archbishop Oscar Romero, the martyred bishop of El Salvador, soon to be a saint was killed by wealthy land owners and military people who called him a communist. “Unless the grain of wheat dies....” Sr. Dorothy Stang worked for 30 years as a tireless advocate for the poor of Brazil. She was opposed and threatened by the ruthless land owners who were stripping the Amazon rainforest and displacing the peasants. As her assassins approached her on an isolated road she pulled out her Bible and read aloud from the Beatitudes. They shot her. “Unless the grain of wheat dies….” The movie “Selma” reminds us of the brave women and men who marched with Dr. King 50 years ago from Selma to Montgomery. On March 7, 1955, “Bloody Sunday,” at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, many were beaten by the police. In that same month Rev. James Reeb, a Unitarian Universalist minister one of the marchers, was murdered. “Unless the grain of wheat dies….”
There are many different forms of martyrdom. A martyr is one who accepts the sacrifices and pain which come from being faithful to Christ and his ways. Jesus invited his disciples to take up the cross and follow him. He challenges each of us to make choices that might be painful or costly. What can I give to those who lack; what will I not do in my work and social life to witness my faith; how much of my time and resources go to my church and community; whom will I defend when my companions label or stereotype those who are different? Jesus has modelled for us the costs of being faithful to God’s will. “Yet what should I say, ‘Father save me from this hour?’ But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.” If we want, Christ in us will enable us to die to our will and seek after God's will.

Those who came to Philip wanted to see Jesus in the flesh. For John “seeing” symbolises coming to faith. John is suggesting that outsiders were hoping to “see,” come to believe in Jesus. In his own lifetime Jesus’ ministry was almost exclusively confined to his own people. The Greeks who came asking to see Jesus represent the Gentile world - all people. How would they come to believe in Jesus? Jesus said, “And when I am lifted up, I will draw ALL to myself.” Jesus is no longer in the world in the flesh; but we are. Through our words and works, people will come to “see” Jesus through us. On this fifth Sunday of Lent, before we enter the week of Christ's passion, let us take the time to pray with our - new covenant heart's - that others may come to "see" Jesus in us and in the Christian community.

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany - The Transfiguration - Br Andrew

Andre-Rublev's Saviour

Homily preached by Br. Andrew at Maroubra on Sunday 15^th February 2015:

The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany - the Transfiguration

Readings:

2 Kings 2:1-12; Psalms 50:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:3-12; Mark 9:2-9


Today, is the last Sunday after the Epiphany, and as the last Sunday before the beginning of Lent is also the Sunday of the Transfiguration of the Lord. 

The word Transfigure is derived from Latin “transfigurare” or “across figure” and this word came into the English via the Old French between 1100 and 1250. Its common meaning is ‘to transform into something more beautiful or elevated.’ To change the form of something or someone into something more beautiful or elevated

Spiritually speaking, when we find ourselves on this mountain top each year with Peter, James, John, Moses, Elijah and Jesus it is not only outward experiences that concern us, because, you see for those of us who walk in the footsteps of Christ we are ever learning new things of  him.

This is His final Epiphany experience, or rather ours before He begins the Journey to Death and Resurrection in Jerusalem. Epiphanies are Manifestations, revelations of certain information to certain individuals.

THE primary or official EPIPHANY, occurred when Jesus was made manifest, revealed to the Nations in the three Magi, who came to worship him, as King of the Jews witnessed by his parents.
The second time was at his baptism in the Jordan when God made it known in person that Jesus was his own beloved son. Andrew and John were present at that time.
Here we are once more atop what must have been Mount Hermes, (we can talk about this on Thursday), with Peter and James and of course John who was present at Jesus baptism.

It says “And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one* on earth could bleach them” (Mark 9:2b, 3) I guess the easiest way Peter could describe the event to Mark must have been that Jesus’ clothes became so white that he had never seen the like before because we don’t have any description of Jesus here just his unearthly laundromat.

Retrospectively, in Peter’s realization that he was in the presence of the True and living God he later refrains from giving the description to Mark or any of us for that matter because he saw the face of God and lived – just a thought?

We notice that as soon as Christ is transfigured that Elijah with Moses can be seen speaking with Jesus, were they there all along and did the Transfigurement then allow the disciples to see and to hear them? What might we SEE if we were to place ourselves in this diorama with the group and encounter the living God in Jesus; would we be open to learning or would we like Peter want to pitch tents, because it would be too much for us, I guess it had better be too much for us else what are we doing here?


Elijah represents the epitome of Prophet hood and was to return before the Messiah arrived, we know that one with a spirit like his walked and talked in John the Baptist and was executed and now Elijah appears with Jesus before Jesus, in his turn is about to make the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world, past present and to come.

Our reading from the second book of the Kings is about the Ascension of Elijah who was taken to heaven in a whirlwind by God. The reading takes us through what was the last walk in his life and also through the brief and final stages of the apprenticeship of the prophet Elisha.

“2. Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal”( 2Kings 2:1) And they walk from Gilgal to bethel and from Bethel to Jericho and from Jericho to the Jordan, each time Elijah telling Elisha to remain behind and each time Elisha saying “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you”  Notice the Company of Prophets telling Elisha that today the Lord will take your master  away from you and he tells them to be quiet because he knows.

Unlike Peter, Elisha is absolutely aware of what is going on and ready to take up the challenge to walk with his master to his master’s death.

Moses – the representative of the Torah the living Law, also died in special circumstances somewhere nearby the place where Elijah crossed over the Jordan on dry ground. He was led up to the top of mount Nebo from where he surveyed the Promised Land, he was never to enter because of his disobedience. It is questioned that depending upon which mountain was the mount of Transfiguration and from which part of the mountain range Moses viewed the Promised Land that he may have been able to have seen the mount of Transfiguration… What we do have here are some interesting ponders – that Moses who sinned and did not cross over the Jordan died on Mount Nebo and was hidden by God in a valley somewhere.
That Elijah crossed over the Jordan by striking the water with his furled cloak and crossed over on dry land before Ascending into heaven in a whirlwind. AND effectively speaking the Jordan was where Jesus’ earthly Ministry began.

That these three in manners of speaking have all met before in sin and in death and now the Law and the prophets have come to bear witness with the Apostles in the sound of the voice of God, a theophany, “This is my Son, the Beloved;* listen to him!’”(Mark9:7b)
 Using a cloud to protect the Apostles from the terrible presence of God assists the disappearance of Moses and Elijah. Arriving in dazzling light and departing in cloud.
If we have managed to place ourselves alongside the party in this diorama have we listened?
Will we now listen to Jesus?

Just a little about Paul because it really needs much more time, perhaps Thursday. We really do need to listen with dictionaries and thesauruses in hand when we read Paul. 

Briefly what he says is that the Ministry of the New Covenant, more glorious than that of Moses is like the very first creation of God, Light and yet it has been entrusted to frail human beings who were fashioned from clay. Paul himself alludes to the struggles he has had and to his feelings of inadequacy, we know the struggles of Peter just from our Gospel readings yet God has entrusted us to take the light of the Gospel to the world.

This light is so bright and regenerative that it can withstand all our weaknesses even after all the evil that has been done in its name it is still the reflection of God’s divine glory and has the capacity to transfigure the soul.

If ever we become inflated with our own solo capacity to preach the word we need to climb our own private Nebo’s and recall our weakness and sin and Christ’s ultimate act of self-sacrifice that had enabled us to follow Elijah over the Jordan – dry shod.

And take up our frail urns which only the Spirit of God can strengthen and let the Gospel light shine.

29th May Ascension Day - Br. Simeon

Andre-Rublev's Saviour 

Sermon for Ascension Day By Br Simeon efo.

29/05/2014

Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20

"I am with you always - to the close of the age"

There is an ancient legend about Jesus’ ascension into heaven.

He is met by the angel Gabriel who asks him, "Now that your work is finished, what plans have you made to ensure that the truth that you brought to earth will spread throughout the world?"

Jesus answered, "I have called some fishermen and tax-collectors to walk along with me as I did my Father’s will."

"Yes, I know about them," said Gabriel, "but what other plans have you made? "

Jesus replied, "I taught Peter, James and John about the kingdom of God; I taught Thomas about faith; and all of them were with me as I healed and preached to the multitudes."

Gabriel replied, "But you know how unreliable that lot was. Surely you must have other plans to make sure your work was not in vain."

Jesus quietly replied to Gabriel, "I have no other plans. I am depending on them!! "

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen

The Gospel lectionary reading for today, Ascension Day and the celebration of the ascension of the Lord, offers us the opportunity to break open a most familiar text within the church.

Why did Jesus leave his disciples forty days after his resurrection? Forty is a significant number in the scriptures. Moses went to the mountain to seek the face of God for forty days in prayer and fasting. The people of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years in preparation for their entry into the promised land. Elijah fasted for forty days as he journeyed in the wilderness to the mountain of God. For forty days after his resurrection Jesus appeared numerous times to his disciples to assure them that he had risen indeed and to prepare them for the task of carrying on the work which he began during his earthy ministry.

Jesus' departure and ascension into heaven was both an end and a beginning for his disciples. While it was the end of Jesus' physical presence with his beloved disciples, it marked the beginning of Jesus' presence with them in a new way. Jesus promised that he would be with them always to the end of time.

He assured them of his power - a power which overcame sin and death. Now as the glorified and risen Lord and Saviour, ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, Jesus promised to give them the power of his Holy Spirit, which we see fulfilled ten days later on the Feast of Pentecost (Luke 24:49 and Acts 2:1-4).

When the Lord Jesus departed physically from the apostles, they were not left alone or powerless. Jesus assured them of his presence and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus' last words to his apostles point to his saving mission and to their mission to be witnesses of his saving death and his glorious resurrection and to proclaim the good news of salvation to all the world.

Their task is to proclaim the gospel - the good news of salvation - not only to the people of Israel, but to all the nations as well. God's love and gift of salvation is not reserved for a few or for one nation alone, but it is for the whole world - for all who will accept it. The gospel is the power of God, the power to release people from their burden of guilt, sin, and oppression, and the power to heal, restore, and make us whole.

This is the great commission which the risen Christ gives to the whole church. All believers have been given a share in this task - to be heralds of the good news and ambassadors for Jesus Christ, the only saviour of the world. We have not been left alone in this task, for the risen Lord works in and through us by the power of his Holy Spirit. 

Today we witness a new Pentecost as the Lord pours out his Holy Spirit upon his people to renew and strengthen the body of Christ and to equip it for effective ministry and mission world-wide. Do you witness to others the joy of the gospel and the hope of the resurrection?

Amen.

Last Sunday after Epiphany or The Transfiguration - Br Luke and Br Andrew

St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour

 Holy Redeemer

In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order

Homily preached at Winmalee on 2nd March 2014

by Br. Luke written by Br Andrew

Light and Cloud transfigured Him - for extra notes go to What does Messiah Mean?

Readings

Old Testament reading Exodus 24:12-18

Epistle 2 Peter 1: 16-21

Gospel Matthew 17:1-9

These are musings derived from a now dim recall of the Sermon preached by Br.Luke on the Feast of the Transfiguration, 2nd March last.

I have linked to the readings to assist with your understanding my cloudy recalling of the Light shed that day on the beginning of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem.

The following week would be the first Sunday of Lent, the beginning of the Churches' Penitential Season; 40 days in length. 1

In the first reading we join Moses on Mount Sinai during another 40 day period,

The appearance of the LORD’s glory was like devouring fire on the mountain top. Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and ascended the mountain; and he was there on the mountain forty days and forty nights and his face became so dazzlingly bright in God's reflection that it was forever after veiled. His purpose there to receive the Commandments and the Law, to return with them to the Children of Israel, who, waiting below, had witnessed him entering the cloud, had seen the dazzling lightning of God's glory.

“And when Jesus died on the cross the veil in the Temple was rent and no more is humanity separated from God...”

It was but six days after Peters confession of Faith that Jesus took him along with James and John, with him up an high mountain by themselves, perhaps mount Tabor- there, like Moses he was transfigured before them, not just his face but his entire being. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light.  Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.

The response of Peter with his foot shaped mouth indicates that at least he recognized the other two as Moses and Elijah, representatives of the Law and the Prophets, but how, was there a Midrash identikit accompanying the oral tradition?

Thinking that the time was now at hand Peter wanted to settle everyone into booths. While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And see, a voice came out of the cloud, which said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” When they heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid.  Jesus touched them and they raised their eyes to find themselves alone with him.

As they made their way down the mountain Jesus promised them not to say anything about what they had seen until after He had risen from the dead. They certainly listened since we certainly don’t read that they did speak of it before the appointed time.

 Indeed, later in his Epistle Peter says

 “For we did not follow cleverly devised fables,” but of prophecy, being moved by the holy Spirit when we revealed to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, but we were actually eyewitnesses of his splendor For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, “This is my much-loved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Peter then adds one doesn’t choose prophecy the Spirit chooses you.

In our passages that day Old and New Covenant have met to fulfil the Law and the Prophets in Jesus Christ, witnessed by the children of Israel and by the Disciples of the Messiah .Cloud and fire have played their part in transfiguring the face of Prophet and Messiah and Peter, the Rock upon whom is built the Church has heard from out of the mouth of God Almighty, that he who is to die is Son of God indeed. It is an awful thought!

Our Psalm on the day, Psalm 2 is one of the Messianic Psalms and in reading it we find another face of the Messiah – the Messiah of the third temptation of Br Simeon’s Sermon last week.

⁷ I will tell of the decree. The LORD said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.

⁸ Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

¹⁰ Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

¹² Give sincere homage to the Son,^‡ lest he be angry, and you perish on the way,

for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

1. Information: - The number forty had great symbolic meaning to the Jews and today among Christians and Muslims as well.  The number forty to the Jews is a number that, when used in terms of time, represents a period of probation, trial, and chastisement (not to be confused with judgment which is represented by the number 9).

As the product of 5 and 8, it also signifies grace (5) ending in revival or a new beginning (8).  Thus, when 40 is referencing a period of probation, it also often coincides with the meaning derived from the factors 5 and 8.  When it relates to enlarged dominion or extended rule, then it is related to the factors of 4 and 10, with 4 representing the creation of something and 10 representing perfection and completeness.

Daven Hiskey, August 2 2010,today I found out.com, The Biblical Expression “40 Days and 40 Nights” Just Means a “Really Long Time” Copyright © 2012 -Vacca Foeda Media, accessed 13 March 2014,<web://todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/08/the-biblical-expression-40-days-and-40-nights-just-means-a-really-long-time/