Then there were the Israelites who spent forty years in the wilderness. Wouldn't most of them be dead by the time the tribe got to the promised land?

And how did Jesus do without food for forty days in the desert?

It was a while before I learned about gematria, the connection between the Hebrew alphabet and numerology, and how certain numbers describe a connection with God.

Seven is the spiritual number, nine is the number of completion, and forty is the time of trial.

We are not meant to put literal interpretation on forty days or forty years but to understand it as a serious time of change which usually involves the letting go of one story to begin another bigger story.

The bigger story for Jesus was the beginning of his ministry.

His time of trial was something we all have to experience - the temptations of the ego. Three times he realised he could use his power for himself, and three times he rejected that.

We can assume that those temptations probably popped up again, but nowhere in the gospels do we see Jesus using his power for self-aggrandisement.

He was true to the bigger story that was written for him.

What of the Israelites long journey from Egypt?

Apparently, the Exodus was nothing like the Hollywood film.

Historically, people left Egypt in small groups at different times, while some stayed.

The massive significance of Exodus, is its spiritual meaning and this is how it is celebrated.

At a certain stage of life, we leave our personal Egypt with its slavery to materialistic living and superficial values, and we go out into the desert to search for the promised land of spiritual freedom.

And the parting of the Red Sea?

This tells us that God makes the impossible possible. A path will be cleared before us, and the old values that pursue us will disappear.

The 40 years of wandering may be days, weeks, months.

It is the time of trial, a time of movement and of seeking.

The pillar of cloud by day and fire by night are metaphors for the presence of God always with us. The manna represents the way we are fed on our pilgrimage. It will be spiritual food falling in words and events that are sacrament in the way they affect us.

If we look back at times of spiritual growth in our lives, we may see a pattern, one story closing down, a time of trial, and then a new bigger story beginning.

Jesus' final time of trial lasted three days.

His new story was of cosmic significance. It means that in all our times of trial, he is guiding us, feeding us with the manna of his love.

It is the extent of his love that brings us home to the promised land of our hearts.

• Joy Cowley is a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and retreat facilitator.
• Image: Marlborough book festival

A Vatican court acquitted two Italian journalists whose books contained material from leaked confidential financial documents.

The court ruled it did not have jurisdiction over Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi.

But Msgr Lucio Vallejo Balda will get an 18 month prison sentence for leaking documents.

Francesca Chaouqui was given a 10 month suspended sentence.

The court decided her role was one of encouraging the leaks.

Prosecutors had earlier described her as the instigator of the leaks and had recommended a long jail sentence.

Msgr Balda's secretary, Nicola Maio, was acquitted at the conclusion of the trial which started last November.

The five defendants were being tried under a new law created by Pope Francis to criminalise leaking.

Breaking this law carries a maximum eight-year prison sentence.

Both Ms Chaouqui and Msgr Balda had been appointed by Pope Francis to serve on a high-level commission to overhaul the Vatican's finances.

Nuzzi's book, Merchants in the Temple, and Fittipaldi's book, Avarice, focused on the irregularities uncovered by the commission.

Widespread financial mismanagement inside the Holy See was revealed.

Also revealed were embarrassing details about the canonisation process, which costs up to €500,000 and the size of cardinals' apartments.

Msgr Balda, who has been under house arrest, is likely to serve his sentence in one of the handful of the Vatican's prison cells.

It has been speculated, however, that the Pope might pardon him during the Year of Mercy.

Sources

• The Tablet
• Catholic Herald
• Image: The Tablet

Four men are on trial at York Crown Court accused of religiously aggravated assaults.

All four deny the charges and three claimed the incidents were part of general workplace banter.

The mock crucifixion was one of several incidents of alleged bullying the teen said he suffered.

The young man, now aged 19, testified in court by video link.

The alleged mock crucifixion incident - which was said to have been filmed by co-workers - involved the teen being tied to a wooden cross and suspended three feet in the air.

This allegedly happened after he refused to hand over his phone.

"At the time I didn't know what to feel. I felt ashamed, everyone could see what was happening to me. I was embarrassed," he told the court.

"Afterwards I was thinking they were trying to take the Mickey out of my religion. Otherwise why was there a cross made?"

The victim, who is a churchgoer, told the court that the abuse had started not long after he joined the firm in July, 2014.

Other alleged incidents included one of the accused spraying deodorant towards the teen's head and lighting it while the teen was asleep in bed.

There was another alleged occasion which involved tying the teenager to a chair and pulling him off the ground by his underpants - leaving him with cuts and bruises to his buttocks.

In another alleged incident, the teenager was pelted with eggs and flour by three of his co-workers while he was in the shower.

One month later, while the workers were staying in Essex, one of the men allegedly struck again while the teen was sleeping.

This time, the teen was left with crosses, phallic symbols and other marks drawn on his body.

The teenager was too ashamed to report the incidents and feared he would be sacked.

The trial started on Monday.

Sources

• Daily Mail
• Daily Mirror
• BBC
• Image: Hookedoneverything.com

Chaouqui, a former member of an economic reform commission established by Pope Francis, is accused of conspiring with Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda to leak documents.

Vallejo Balda, who had sat on a top level papal commission overhauling the Holy See's finances, admitted giving confidential financial documents to journalists.

But he said he did so under duress having been effectively blackmailed by his female colleague.

Chaouqui, who is married, has categorically denied having sex with the cleric.

She implied that Vallejo Balda had confided in her about a previous gay encounter or relationship.

"He told me something in confidence, something he said only I knew," she wrote.

Chaouqui said the cleric's claims against her had made her decide to reveal what he had told her in court.

The prosecution claimed during the last court session on Tuesday that Chaouqui had sent the Spanish priest a WhatsApp message in which she warned: "I will destroy you in the press and you know I can do it."

He has also claimed that she led him to believe she had links to the Italian secret services and contacts with the mafia and powerful politicians.

The Holy See has been pursuing the prosecution of two investigative journalists, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, who have published books based on leaked documents.

Sources

AFP/Yahoo
Daily Mail
NanoNews
Image: AFP/Daily Mail

Bishop Max Davis, who stood down as head of Australia's military ordinariate, was found not guilty on six charges of indecent dealings with male children and youth between 1969 and 1972.

In this time, he was dormitory master at St Benedict's College in New Norcia, north east of Perth.

He stood aside from his duties as Catholic Bishop of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) when he was charged two years ago.

A jury on Monday deliberated for about four hours before finding Bishop Davis not guilty of all six charges.

Bishop Davis made no comment as he left court after the verdict.

He will now take some time to decide whether to return to public ministry or not.

The bishop's defence counsel had told the court that while there was "no dispute" the complainants had been sexually abused at the college, Bishop Davis was not responsible.

Bishop Davis took the stand on Thursday and denied under oath that he sexually abused any of the teenage boys at New Norcia.

In his evidence he said he had no "independent recollection" of any of the complainants.

He also testified he had no sexual interest in children.

He stated he was appalled when, in 1971, he was told by a group of students that another clergy member was behaving inappropriately towards boys.

Bishop Davis said he immediately reported the concerns to the abbot and the priest, Fr Justin, was removed from the school that day.

Defence counsel Seamus Rafferty has suggested two alternative suspects, who are now dead, including Fr Justin.

The other was Brother Benedict, who was in charge of discipline before Davis took this over.

During the trial one former student said he was abused by a "Brother Max".

Bishop Davis told the court he was never referred to as "Brother" because he was not a member of any order.

Bishop Davis was ordained as a priest in 1971.

Sources

• ABC
• AAP
• Sydney Catholic
• Image: Perth Now

The trial of the former head of the Australian Catholic military diocese, Bishop Max Davis, is expected to run into next week.

The court has been told that Bishop Davis will testify.

Bishop Davis has denied the charges against him, which pertain to the time when he worked at St Benedict's College in New Norcia, WA.

The prosecution alleges he performed indecent acts on five students aged between 13 and 15, between 1969 and 1972.

The alleged acts reportedly came under the pretence of medical examinations or while the victims were seeking clarification on sex education.

But Bishop Davis's lawyer said other adult men at the school -a priest and a religious brother- could performed these acts.

Both are now dead.

Bishop Davis was ordained as a priest in 1971.

In his opening statement, Bishop Davis's lawyer said he would not dispute the victims had been sexually abused while at the college.

However, the lawyer said there were two other religious men who were known to have been involved in inappropriate behaviour with boys, and that the victims could have mistaken them for Davis.

The jury was told that Bishop Davis was the bishop for the Australian armed forces for 12 years, but had stood down from the role after the allegations surfaced.

Defence lawyer Sean Rafferty said Bishop Davis had always found this kind of conduct "utterly abhorrent".

Mr Rafferty told the jury that Davis was approached by several Year 12 students in 1971, who told him one of the brothers at the college had been behaving inappropriately.

He said Davis had taken that information straight to the abbot, and the brother had been immediately replaced.

Mr Rafferty told the jury it was likely some of the indecent acts against the victims could have been done by the brother, not Davis.

A victim who gave evidence on Tuesday rejected suggestions he was mistaken about who abused him telling the court, "It was Max Davis. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind."

Sources

• Sydney Morning Herald
• ABC (Trial day one)
• ABC (Trial day two)
• ABC (Trial day three)
• Image: Yahoo News

Five people, including two journalists, are standing trial for the alleged leaking and dissemination of documents revealing mismanagement of the Holy See's finances.

On December 7, court a rejected a challenge to the jurisdiction of the Vatican in hearing the case, as the alleged crimes happened in Italy.

The trial has been adjourned without a specific date to resume.

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