“The particular vocation of individual artists decides the arena in which they serve and points as well to the tasks they must assume, the hard work they must endure and the responsibility they must accept. Artists who are conscious of all this know too that they must labor without allowing themselves to be driven by the search for empty glory or the craving for cheap popularity, and still less by the calculation of some possible profit for themselves. There is therefore an ethic, even a “spirituality” of artistic service, which contributes in its way to the life and renewal of a people.”
Letter to Artists, 4
“It is in living and acting that man establishes his relationship with being, with the truth and with the good. The artist has a special relationship to beauty.”
Letter to Artists, 3
John 15:1-8
Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
Embracing Beauty | Unity
Reflection by Erin Day
After we surrender everything to God, we are prompted to respond to God’s unending outpouring of Himself. Will we embrace God’s love, or will we selfishly turn the other way? When we encounter God in beauty, we are overwhelmed, and we desire to respond to His loving embrace by fully embracing Him in return. His beauty penetrates so deeply that we want nothing more than to be united with Him. We want to participate in His love and enter into His most Sacred Heart.
At times, we may be afraid to accept Christ’s pursuit. We may struggle to say “Yes!” to Him and what He’s given us. Our families, our jobs, our joys, and sorrows, all the responsibilities we have in front of us, are gifts from Him. In order to unify our hearts to God’s, we must seek His beauty in those responsibilities, then reach out and, with courage, remain in Him.
This week, we will focus on reciprocating God’s love by saying yes to what He is prompting us to do in our creative works and in our daily lives. We will respond with zeal, taking action to carry out the duties God has placed in our lives right now. We will remain in relationship with Him and lean into His graces even in the midst of trial and resistance.
Remain in Me
Saint Pope John Paul II speaks of the artist as having a “special relationship to beauty,” inasmuch as we’re drawn more naturally to beauty, or can help reveal it to others (“Letter to Artists”). We should lean into that special relationship and embrace it! When we embrace Christ through the beauty He shares with us, we grow in relationship with Him. We never want to be parted from Him. Our lives become a way of being in union with Him.
In life-giving relationships, there is giving, receiving, and reciprocating. When we reciprocate, we say “Yes!” and take action to show the other we love them. This action unites and bonds us to the other. When we graft ourselves to the “true vine,” we are filled with the graces we need to embrace the life He has given to us. With these graces, we are able to cling to Him through discouragement, heartbreak, and grief. When the wind attempts to rattle us into brittle lifeless dust, we hold true to our Father.
Beauty attracts and helps us to more effortlessly love. We can see beauty through our relationships. Mary’s relationship with Jesus is an example of pure beauty. She was filled with grace and abided in the life-giving vine. She said “Yes!” when she received Him into her womb and united His life to hers.
Think of Mary and all the joys and sorrows she experienced with Jesus. She nursed Him and held His hands when He was learning how to walk. She fed and clothed Him. She was there for Him when He needed her most. She held fast to Him, even at the foot of the cross. She embraced His lifeless, blood-stained body as it draped over her. She resisted the temptation to flee from the reality of His death even though it pained her to her core. She endured and remained, and her actions spoke of the depth of love she gave to Jesus — to the end.
We are invited to say yes to the unruly pile of dishes needing to be washed, the child who needs help with his homework, and the never-ending collection of crumbs on the kitchen floor. We embrace the duties the Lord has placed in front of us by praying for the graces to push through to the end of a long day at the office. We pick up the phone to call a loved one instead of sending a text message. We fully embrace the view of the snowcapped mountains and droplets of dew in our hair in the peak of the morning. We pick up the paintbrush and let God work through each stroke. This is what it means to embrace God’s love through the work we do and the beauty we behold every day. This is what it means to be a life-giving branch on the one “true vine”. We remain in Him — to the end.
Daily Living:
Embrace beauty. Reflecting on previous experiences helps us see our responses to God’s pursuit in the past. Have you had an experience of beauty that you completely embraced? Did you feel closer to God through that experience?
Resist temptation. What temptations or resistance do you have when you try to embrace God’s love for you? Where are the parts of your heart that are resisting God’s embrace? What is holding you back?
Say “Yes!” Is there something God is calling you to do that you are afraid to do? What would your “Yes!” look like?
Build relationships. We can find beauty in our relationship with God and with others. Reflect on the relationships in your life. How can you nourish the life-giving relationships in your life?
UP NEXT: Week 5: Daily Flow
