A few weeks ago, we taught our CCE students that God reveals Himself to us through Divine Revelation using Creation, People, and Jesus. By revealing Himself through Creation, God surrounds us with Beauty. You know that moment where you find yourself looking at a scene that leaves you breathless: the mist rising from a warm bayou in the cold stillness of an early morning, sun breaking through dark clouds after a thunderstorm, the brilliance of a clear blue sky in Fall – those are the moments when you realize that God created this world. God also uses people to do His works and reveal His truth when we share our special God-given talents with others or perform selfless acts of love toward each other.On the tenth anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Artists, Pope Benedict XVI hosted artists from around the world in the Sistene Chapel, where he expressed his interest in renewing “the Church’s friendship with the world of art.”
The Holy Father told the crowd of over 250 artists they are the “custodians of beauty,” and that because of their talents they have the “opportunity to speak to the heart of humanity, to touch individual and collective sensibilities, to call forth dreams and hopes, to broaden the horizons of knowledge and of human engagement.”
According to Pope Benedict XVI, in a world lacking of hope, with increasing signs of aggression and despair, there is an ever greater need for a return to spirituality in art. Artists have a renewed opportunity to bring beauty to the world, to use their gifts to enlighten mankind to the glory of God.
Vatican Splendors
National Museum of Catholic Art and History
