Les Miserables

Session 5 - Redemption and Salvation

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Duty to the law

Watch the scene on the barricades just after Valjean fires a false shot to make the others think he has killed Javert.

This powerful lyric is a prayer for Marius but also an acknowledgement that Valjean himself must release Cosette. As we have seen, Valjean prays to God to bring him home. There are echoes of 'homecoming' in several different parts of the film. There is another reference which might easily be missed. As Marius's grandfather, Monsieur Gillenormand, comes down the stairs when Valjean, Cosette and Marius arrive, the main lyric is a heart full of love, but he sings one short sentence about his grandson being home. He has longed for the return of Marius and that he comes with his heart full of love is another metaphor for a homecoming in a spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness.

Luke 15:11-32

Jesus continued: ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them. ‘Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no-one gave him anything. ‘When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” So he got up and went to his father. ‘But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms round him and kissed him. ‘The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

The Prodigal Son

The best known biblical text for homecoming must be the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Take a few moments to read the passage.

Discusison

  • The picture in the song is different from the parable. Do you find any similarities?

  • Can we imagine the father in the parable having similar thoughts to those expressed in the song?

Reflection

Take a moment to reflect on the words of the liturgy for Holy Communion, '... when we were still far off you met us in your Son and brought us home.'

Who Am I?

Reflection

'Who am I?' is a short interrogatory statement that recurs in several of the lyrics in Les Misérables. It is the statement Valjean makes in the courtroom in Arras when he gives himself up, and it is the question he asks Marius before he decides to hide his identity from Cosette.

Significantly, Javert doesn't ask himself the question; he simply asks, 'Who is this man?' about Valjean, when he fails to comprehend why he doesn't take revenge.

A Heart Full of love and Valjean's Confession

Reflection

There is an excellent film called Beyond Right and Wrong which examines several places of deep conflict in the world. It covers the situation in Palestine, the disastrous racial slaughter and killing in Rwanda, and the conflict in Northern Ireland. It is a series of moving encounters with those who lost loved ones, and in many cases the victim and the perpetrators meet each other. Clearly it takes enormous courage on both sides. The most powerful encounter for me was that between Jo Berry and Patrick Magee.

Jo Berry was the daughter of Sir Anthony Berry, one of those killed by the IRA when the Grand Hotel in Brighton was bombed during the Conservative Party Conference. Patrick Magee was one of those convicted of the bombing. He served ten years in prison before he was released under the Good Friday Agreement. In an attempt to deal with the grief of losing her father, Jo Berry had made contact with the IRA soon after the bombing, but she had not met Paddy Magee while he was in prison. After he was released, she organised a meeting.

At the screening of the film that I witnessed, both Paddy Magee and Jo Berry were present in person and answered questions afterwards. They sat next to each other, and it would be fair to say that they have become friends. They travel to different troubled parts of the world to share their experiences. They both described their first meeting in Dublin. Magee said that at first he had just talked about the armed struggle, how and why he believed in it and why he had involved himself in terrorist acts; as he talked on, he described how he realised that Jo Berry was not an ideology, not an embodiment of British Imperialism, but simply another person. As he stopped speaking to her, he said suddenly he didn't know who he was.

Discussion

  • What does Jean Valjean mean when he cries out, 'Who am I?' Is he simply posing a question to be taken literally?

  • How has he questioned his identity since the bishop gave him the candlesticks?

  • Do we need to ask who we are before another story can begin?

Transform Conflict

The lent book talks about a friendship that was built between Jo Berry, the daughter of Sir Anthony Berry who was murdered in the IRA bomb in Brighton and Patrick Magee, the person who planted the bomb. It talks about the reconciliation that occurred after the Good Friday agreement which is quite poignant as we approach Holy Week.

The book describes an interview where the two answered questions from the audience so I thought I would show a short video from Transform Conflict that Jo appears in.

You can find many others on youtube.

The Epilogue

Watch the final section of the musical from when Marius and Cosette arrive at the convent to the end.

Reflection

This final number interweaving the voices of the principals and the stirring chorus is brimful of images and biblical resonances. An obvious passage is Micah 4:1-4 (see below). Think about other passages that spring to mind.

Discussion

  • Valjean prays grace to be shown to Marius and Cosette. How does the grace of God transform the characters of Les Misérables? Did another story begin?

  • Do the sufferings of Valjean, Fantine and others lead them to redemption and salvation? In the context of Jesus' death on the cross, ask yourself how they are changed

  • As we move towards Easter, can another story begin - for us, and for those around us?

  • And how?

Micah 4:1-4

In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord , to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig-tree, and no-one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God

We thank you for our time together this Lent. We pray that we may have been moved by reflecting on the story of Jean Valjean.

Give us grace to examine our own lives.

Give us grace to show and manifest the love you have shown to us in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ.

Bring home all those who are far off and grant that as you meet us you may reach out and meet them.

Bring home all those who are divided from your love.

Grant that we may truly see your face in those around us.

Grant that those who hate may be turned to love, that we will live again in freedom in the garden of the Lord.

Grant us redemption and salvation through your heavenly grace.

Amen.