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Book: Signs Given That We Might Act - Reflections on the Gospel of John


Signs Given That We Might Act - Reflections on the Gospel of John by Mike Rebeiro, Publisher Book Guild Publishing, 2013


This book gives us a compelling interpretation of each of the Seven Signs in the Gospel of John beginning with the turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana and ending with the resurrection of Lazarus. Each sign is analysed in the rigorous manner one might expect from someone who makes their living as a lawyer.

And this rigour is all the more impressive because Michael Ribeiro's interpretation is radical. To coin a phrase this book 'does exactly what it says on the tin'. The author challenges us because he doesn't just write about Signs that affirm our belief or Faith. Instead, he argues that these Signs mean that to follow Christ we have to act. That faith without action is incomplete.

His message for the laity is all the more powerful because Mike writes as a lay person rather than as a cleric or a theologian. At the same time he demonstrates an excellent grasp of the Gospels and the literature about them which enables him to make them accessible. Perhaps one year spent in Seminary early in his life helps.

Michael's writings are also grounded in his experience as a parishioner of Most Holy Trinity Church Dockhead in south London. This book is very much about one parishioner in one parish sharing with his peers. The author reflects upon the challenges we face in our inner cities - such as the gang culture that is just one symptom of widespread social alienation, economic inequality and an increasingly nihilistic consumer culture. But Michael writes of hopes fulfilled rather than despair. His writing is inspired by his parish's local response to these challenges which he believes affirms his interpretation of the Signs. By courageously reaching out into their local community to offer practical support to the disadvantaged the parish community has grown in size and deepened its faith rather than diluted it. And in the midst of this social action, his own young family has grown and flourished too.

This reviewer has had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with Michael and I can vouch for his sense of vocation even when he has his nose to the grindstone at work in the competitive world of global corporations where the daily encounter between truth and power can present enormous personal challenges. This is not someone who changes when they step into the office.

As befits someone whose work involves solving complex problems, during his journey through the Signs, he poses some tough questions and also paints a clear picture of what the Signs are pointing out to us. And he does not pull any punches either. To The Church he asks how can it be possible that something as significant as Catholic Social Teaching remains unknown to so many practising Catholics?

And he asks readers to see the Sign of Lazarus being raised from the dead, as calling us 'to be a sign of conversion ourselves as individuals and as a community, by letting our old selves die and allowing ourselves to be transformed'.

As well as being of its time this book is also rather prescient. The author's recipe of rigour, passion, personal transformation and a more joyful communal life is all in step with the journey Pope Francis is taking us on. Insights about the relationship of The Church with the Kingdom of God also bring to mind the international bestseller 'Jesus: An Historical Approximation' by Jose Antonio Pagola (2009).

Michael believes these Signs call the Church 'to come out of the cave of darkness symbolised in Lazarus' tomb' and rediscover the sense of joy that comes with 'feeling' part of the Kingdom of God. He argues that our faith should be driving us beyond the safety of the walls of our Church and to the edges of our world, rather than driving us inside the darkness of those walls where he believes we will inevitably end up arguing with each other about our faith. Because he argues that the Church 'grows in the furnace of challenge and opposition that we followers of Christ face today' and that this reaching out is desperately needed in a 'world violently opposed to the Gospel of Life'.

So this book can certainly challenge a reader's own preconceptions. Like Pagola's book which I read two years ago, this book still lives on in me after I finished reading it. Indeed, I offered to write this review because it remains very much a part of my own journey of faith. Even whilst reading it I felt changes in my own perception. For instance, Michael uses language that to begin with I found overtly formal. For instance, he often refers to John as 'The Beloved Disciple'. I first read this as a term of respect, distance and even orthodoxy but as I reached the end of the book I came to read it instead as a term of endearment, fondness and love. I even asked myself why I hadn't noticed that the word 'love' is spelt out in the word 'beloved'? Was I blinded to it by the religious context?

At the present time, the news headlines are dominated by the massacre of British tourists in Tunisia, the ISIS cult of death and the need to provide a counter narrative. So Michael's argument that 'God's love for us is humane' just as we humans are made in God's image is as pertinent now as it will ever be.

Perhaps out there somewhere is a film maker who on reading this book might be inspired to do for these Seven Signs what the film director Kieslowski did for the Ten Commandments with his legendary film series Decalogue. That is, to communicate the human meaning in the Gospel to a wider multi-faith and secular audience.

In the meantime, I am pleased to say that this book has made me more confident about spreading the Good News outside the walls of our Church.

Nick Franchini is Co-founder of the independent charity Good Works www.good-works.org.uk

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