Les Miserables
Session 1 - Fantine and Cosette
John 8:3-7
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Fantine
There is no real need to explore and explain the background to Fantine's story. It is as old as humankind. Hugo, the writer, tells us simply of four young women, whose life had left with little but youth and beauty. After a summer of joy, Fantine is loved and left - left with a child, Cosette.
She returns to her hometown - still beautiful but with a hint of sadness in her demeanour. Here Cosette is left in the care of the monstrous Thénadiers. Fantine finds work in one of the factories belonging to Monsieur Madelaine (Jean Valjean).
After losing her job, she descends into prostitution and after being wrongly accused by one of her clients and arrested by Javert, she comes to the attention of Monsieur Madelaine, the mayor, who gives her his support.
She becomes ill and is placed in the infirmary under the care of Sister Semplice where, under the impression that the mayor will return with Cosette, the final days of her life ebb away.
At the end of the Day
Once you have watched the video look at the discussion prompts and reflections below for the following Bible passages:
Isaiah 58:6-12
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Discussion
Discuss the drudgery of the lives of those engaged in the factory. How does this relate to the reading from Isaiah 58 (5 mins)
We might consider the impact of the demands of the Isaiah passage on us personally and on our society. Do we need to respond to these demands individually or corporately? (5 mins)
Reflections
Both the Old and the New testaments are full of exhortations to care for the poor. Jesus reminds us that we will always have the poor with us (2 mins)
Matthew 25.34-40
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
Discussion
How does this passage highlight the danger of overlooking the poor in our society today? (5 mins)
Does the line in the song about the righteous hurrying past have special resonance in the context of the Isaiah passage? (3 mins)
Psalm 1
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Reflection
In many Old Testament passages the righteous are venerated. There are plenty of examples in the Psalms such as Psalm 1. Can you think of any other example? (3 mins)
Discussion
Consider what and who we think of as righteous. Does Pslam 1 give us a picture of the world that we can relate to? (3 mins)
Matthew 23.27
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
Reflection
Remember that in the Old and New Testaments, ‘righteousness’ implied adherence to the Law of Moses. What do you think of the way Jesus challenged the Pharisees in regards to their ‘righteousness’? (3 mins)
Fantine’s Transgression
Lent is a time to ponder on how we have departed from God. It is traditional to think of the Fall from paradise and the sin of Adam and Eve in Eden. For any Lenten journey to have value, we should allow ourselves to think about how we have departed from God's way personally as well as to understand what the Scriptures tell us about that departure. If we have no understanding of what we have lost, we can have little understanding of how it can be regained.
Christianity has a lot to say about sin and it often strikes me that most people don't feel especially sinful, so they feel little need for their sins to be forgiven. Just reading the story of Adam and Eve's sin and how we are tainted by that isn't particularly helpful. It may give us a vivid metaphor for the Fall, but it doesn't give us a sense of what the Fall might mean to us personally. We need to express explicitly what we mean by original sin and what it means for us as individuals.
Discussion
What do we think of when we talk about original sin? How do you think of it in terms of yourself as an individual? (5 mins)
Reflection
Can I encourage you to read the reflection in the books in your own time around original sin.
You might also like to read the Original Sin article on Wikipedia.
There was a time when men were kind
Once you have watched the video look at the discussion prompts and reflections below for the following Bible passages:
Genesis 1.26-27
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Discussion
What does this mean to us individually - and how have we lost it? (5 mins)
Many questions and thoughts will spring from these lyrics.
What has Fantine lost? (3 mins)
How much is it her fault? (3 mins)
Can she recover from her loss (3 mins)
How can we, humankind, recover our own loss of righteousness? (3 mins)
1 Corinthians 1.30
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
Reflection
Think of the way that Jesus dealt with sinners. Paul’s theology tries to explain that as we can never be righteous in the eyes of the law, Jesus through his life and death upon the cross became our righteousness (2 mins).
Cosette’s Dream
Fantin’s life has been irreparably marred. She has turned to stone. She has no fear - just humiliation. Our lives may never hit such lows - but we may know of others who have hit low points in their lives.
Cosette on the other hand seems unmarred, but suffers as well. Perhaps the perfect little innocent girl trapped in her circumstances.
Castle on a Cloud
Reflection
19th Century writers often created a picture of an idealised perfection - especially when writing about children. Has the church done the same with Jesus? How does this relate to the suffering Christ? (3 mins).
Discussion
What is attractive or not about this vision and how does it compliment or differ from your own vision of Christ? (3 mins)
Read Revelation 21.1-5 and reflect on it (5 mins)
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Almighty and everlasting God, we give thanks for the freedom to gather freely to reflect on, discuss and ponder the imaginary life of Fantine. Help us to remember that there are many Fantines around us today. Help us to be aware of the difficulties facing single mothers and help us to understand the pressures facing young women in our society.
Grant that we may recognise that we, too, have gone astray. Help us to understand where we have fallen short of your will. Grant that as we seek forgiveness of sins, we may turn back to your ways.
Give us the strength to identify and bring to light social injustice where we find it. Keep us from putting partitions between our own lives and those around us. Give us the courage to see what lives people live and how bad things really are. Keep us from daydreaming the world to rights without acting on our thoughts.
As we progress through this season of Lent, grant that we may see things anew and be changed.
We ask all this in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Next Week
Next week we are looking at the Bishop. The film and musical do not give much of a backstory to him and we see him only briefly. So if you do have the books, it might be useful to read the leader's notes to give you more of an overview of him.