FS #81: Theology of Art, Part 1 – Jul 01 – Homily – Fr Terrance

 

Fr Terrance gives the homily at Bloomington, IN, on Jul 01, 2024, on how art in the Franciscan tradition reveals divine beauty, emphasizing the need to mold our souls in the likeness of Christ. This is a continuation of his series on Franciscan spirituality and the start of a new subsection, "Theology of Art," emphasizing the place of Art in Franciscan understanding and how it should lead us to God.

Father discusses the importance of art in the spiritual life and the Franciscan tradition. He references Dante's "Inferno," where art that follows nature is described as God's grandchild. He explains that art has theological foundations and is one of the highest forms of revealing the Absolute. To understand its origins, Father points to the Blessed Trinity, where God, the first and incomparable artist, sculpts his divine substance in the generation of the Word (Hebrews 1:3 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/1?3), the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/1?15). The Word, therefore, is the art of the Father, as St. Augustine notes.

Father describes the Incarnate Word, in whom all things were created and everything subsists (Colossians 1:16-17 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/1?16). Creation reflects the beauty of Christ, as seen in the smallest and greatest of creatures. St. Augustine states in his "Confessions" that all creatures manifest something harmonious, regulated by supreme law. The Word Incarnate, who is life (John 1:4 - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/1?4), creates images of himself, producing perfect art.

Bonaventure, in his "Commentary on the Sentences," says that the Son is the archetypal world and the full art of all living things. Man, made in God's likeness, becomes a third artist by transfiguring creation in his own imagination. Dante states that human art imitates God's work. Man imitates God by conceiving and expressing reflections of the Incarnate Word. However, man's work differs from God's in its limitations and reliance on technique.

Father concludes that the essence of art is a search for the divine, with Christ as the supreme beauty. Jesus, as the Word of God and man, is the ideal of created beauty and the inspirer of Christian art. The ultimate work of art is sculpting the image of Christ crucified within our souls. He encourages us to ask Our Lady for the grace to mold ourselves in the likeness of Christ.

This is a continuation of his series of homilies on Franciscan Spirituality - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNN151zTIO4&list=PLejh_e0-LN4xgMllKrzSasL2Hljd5BHom
and the subsection "Theology of Art."

The material for this series comes primarily from Ciccarelli, Marciano M., "I capisaldi della spiritualità francescana" in Italian, which translates as "The Cornerstones of Franciscan Spirituality." No English translations of this book exist at the time of this recording.

00:00 – Introduction
00:12 – Importance of Art in Spiritual Life
00:24 – Dante on Art and Nature
00:50 – Art as a Reflection of God
02:08 – The Word as the Father's Art
02:44 – Creation Reflecting Christ's Beauty
04:05 – Human Art Imitates Divine Creation
07:17 – Everyone as an Artist

Ave Maria!

Mass: The Feast of the Most Precious Blood - Feast - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12373a.htm
Readings:  - http://usccb.org/bible/readings/070124.cfm
1st: heb 9:11-15
Gsp: joh 19:30-35

More on the Readings: https://airmaria.com/r?m=2221

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