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Betrayal, corruption, sexual exploitation abound in the Israel of Amos' time. Human nature has changed little in the millenia since then. There has always been the victor and the victim. In today's first reading and psalm, a warning is issued to those who victimise others and whose moral sensitivities are deadened. Be warned - you will be crushed by a God who is mightier, stronger, and more swift, than any of you. Our Gospel, in a less strident key, sounds the same clarion call - follow God or remain among the dead. There can be no half-measures; lip service, as the first verse of our psalm warns us, is not enough. There is a stark contrast in the image of God depicted in today's two Scripture passages. Amos presents God as one who will intimidate through power and strength. The Gospel invites us to follow one who is as vulnerable as the victims in the first reading - one who has "no where to lay his head". Mighty God, Pilgrim Teacher, strengthen our feeble hearts, quicken the dying embers of our resolve to follow You. |
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That artists may do all they can to help the men and women of today to discover the signs of God's providential love in creation.
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The artist who can sculpt the stones of our heart to bring out the features of Christ is the Holy Spirit. However, he requires our responsiveness and docility. Conversion of heart is a work of an art jointly produced by the Spirit and our freedom. Artists, accustomed to shaping the most diverse materials according to the inspiration of their genius, know well the daily effort required to improve their life that resembles artistic work. Through his artistic creativity the artist accomplishes the task of shaping the "material" of his own humanity and then having dominion over the universe. There is a remarkable similarity between the art of forming oneself and that which takes place in the transformation of matter. God lets himself be glimpsed through the fascination of beauty. Artists can perceive a ray of supreme beauty among the many manifestations of the beautiful. It is then that art becomes a way to God and it spurs the artists to combine their creative talent with their commitment to a life of ever greater conformity to the divine law. Living profoundly their Christian faith, artists are encouraged to give birth to new "epiphanies" of the divine beauty reflected in creation. | |
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