art
The Maternity of Mary
October 11, 2010
Nativity, Lorenzo di Bicci (b 1373, Firenze, d. 1452, Firenze), Poplar, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne
Today is a significant feast day surrounding the doctrine of the Incarnation. In 1931, in commemoration of the 15th centenary of the Council of Ephesus, Pope Pius XI decreed that from that time forward a feast in the honor of the Motherhood of Mary would be celebrated on October eleventh throughout the entire Church.
Ephesus was Our Lady’s last known home, and her holy house is visited by throngs of Christians and Muslims every year. It was fitting that in 431 the bishops of the entire Church met in the Church of Mary, the Mother of God, to assert the truth that in His Person, Jesus Christ is true God and true man.
Why did the bishops need to hold this council?
Because the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, appointed by Emperor Theodosius II, was preaching that the title, Theotokos, which had been applied to Mary since the very early Church, should not be used. His false teaching, called the Nestorian heresy, asserted that Christ was a mere man, but united to God. According to him, Jesus of Nazareth and the Word of God were two distinct persons.
The logical corollary to this was that Mary was only the mother of the human person, Christ.
This attack on the Personhood of Christ was also, then, an attack on the person and dignity God gave the Blessed Mother. Moreover, we can see that this dual person idea would have lead to all sorts of other problems, not the least of which would be the question, when Jesus is quoted in the Bible, is it Jesus, the man, or Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity? Many questions would be raised, then, about the weight and truth of His words.
During these times the Church was battling the heresies of Arianism, Apollinarianism, Pelagianism, Monophysitism, and Ebionitism among others. Pope Celestine ordered St. Cyril of Alexandria, a doctor of the Church, to draw up a form for Nestorius’s recantation of his errors. With the help of an Egyptian council he formulated a set of twelve anathematisms which simply epitomize the errors he had pointed out in his five books “Against Nestorius”. Unfortunately, Nestorius wouldn’t retract his mistakes and answered St. Cyril’s twelve anathemas with twelve contra-anathemas.
For the sake of the Faith this situation could not be allowed to continue, so the Pope called the council of Ephesus where the bishops declared the true teaching of the Church as we find it in the Athanasian Creed:
This is true faith, to believe and confess that Our Lord Jesus Christ is God and man. Although at the same time God and man, yet He is one and the same Person.
It follows logically from this, that Mary, in becoming the human mother of the Person of Christ is the Mother of God.
Unfortunately because of his bullheadedness, Nestorius was the cause of the Nestorian Schism, one of the splits that occurred in the Church at this time, the effects we still find today in the Assyrian Church of the East.
Pius XI in his 1931 decree commended to the whole Church Mary and the Holy Family of Nazareth as models of the dignity and holiness of chaste wedlock, and as patterns of the holy education of youth.
At the right is a detail from the above image. On Our Lady’s shoulder is a star, the ancient symbol of her as Theotokos, “God-bearer”, the Mother of God. We find it in many icons from ancient times up to the present, and frequently in paintings up to the 1500s.
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Favorite Holy Card Blogs
October 10, 2010
For centuries, Catholics have used inspirational art in the form of holy cards to deepen our prayer life. I’ve got a couple of blogs that have holy card images I like very much.
This first blog no longer posts entries, but I’m glad the blogger has left it up:
Holy Cards for Your Inspiration
The following site has many antique holy cards you might enjoy:
Are there other holy card sites you know of that I should add to this list?
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Escape to Japan
September 29, 2010
Today I harvested the last of the asparagus beans and tore out the remaining four plants. The old body was very sore and tired after what would be for many people an easy job. So tonight I decided to escape to Japan for a spell and found this video at YouTube.
The music is a particularly beautiful arrangement of “Sakura”, the well-known Japanese folk melody, played with koto and a typical Japanese rhythm. Sakura means cherry blossom.
Photographer Sreejith went to Japan in the fall and photographed Japanese maples (“momiji”) and other trees. Blending his photos of the countryside with the Sakura arrangement treats both eyes and ears. Excellent synergy. In Japan maple trees are a symbol of peace, which is exactly how I felt looking at this.
God created many beautiful places in this world and for me, the Japanese countryside is right up at the top. Take a break from the frenetic pace of life and escape with me to Japan.
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Arty Blogs I Enjoy
September 24, 2010
In the past week or so I’ve been looking at blogs that are new(er) to me, accessing them from the comment section on blogs I visit fairly often. I’ve found a couple I’d like to recommend to my readers who also may like to visit, especially if you are into art, poetry, creative writing, or photography. So here they are:
Moonflowers and A Trail of Flowers both by Kindred Spirit.
Moments of Mine by Wanda.
For the adventures of Father Ignatius visit Victor at Time for Reflections.
I hope you enjoy these blogs as much as I do.
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Sunday Snippets – a Catholic Carnival
August 1, 2010
Welcome to Sunday Snippets hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing where Catholic bloggers gather to share their favorite posts for the week. If you have a blog, make a Sunday Snippets post, link to RAnn and leave a link at her site to your post. If you don’t have a blog, join us anyway.
This has been a tough week. Our 15 1/2 year old dog had a cancerous tumor removed from her leg and we had big vet bills and vet visits. Then there were other unusual things that kept me from working on my blog until Thursday, but I do have a few things to offer. No chance to do any digital art, though.
A friend gave me Our Lady of Kibeho and I read it cover-to-cover, hardly being able to put it down. Now I want to read Imaculée Ilibagiza’s other two books on surviving the genocide in Rwanda. If you have not heard of Our Lady of Kibeho, I hope you enjoy my post about it.
One of the great by-products of participating in memes is stumbling on interesting people, places and things as part of contributing to the meme. Not long after I started joining Jenny in Praying the Psalms I discovered a Jewish artist who has a museum in Jerusalem where his illustrations of all 150 psalms are on display. I was so taken with his work and his story I had to write about it. In Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger – Painter of the Psalms I tell a little of his story and in Interpreting Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger’s Paintings I explain a little about his art using his illustration of Psalm 9.
Feldheim publishing has a beautiful book of his paintings and his commentaries on them that I would love to have some day. And I would like to go to visit him in Jerusalem. Well, I guess those are a couple of things I will have to offer up in exchange for some extra grace since neither is likely to happen.
For a short commentary on Psalm 29 read my post Praying the Psalms where you will see another of Berger’s paintings.
For a couple of my quiet times with the Lord, visit Sabbath Moments.
God bless all my readers and thanks for joining me.
Interpreting Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger’s Paintings
July 30, 2010
As I was looking for an illustration for a post on “Praying the Psalms” recently, I stumbled upon the work of Jewish painter Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger who founded the Museum of Psalms in Jerusalem in 1995. Until then I had never heard of his work. What a discovery this was and what a great journey from both an art standpoint and a spiritual standpoint he set me upon!
Berger’s work is like none other’s. Some people use the word “psychedelic” in describing it, but I think that is an injustice. I matured in the psychedelic 60s and the term connotes to me a drug-induced state of mind out of touch with reality. Berger’s paintings on the other hand are colorful and at first glance seem abstract in nature, but again, abstract is an unfair term if used in the sense of most abstract art, because every aspect of each canvas has meaning easily accessible if you understand the symbols. Just as every word of the Bible means something, every part of Berger’s images mean something. Those of us who are not familiar with the Kabbalah, Zohar, and Hebraic letters just have to work a little harder to discover how Berger is depicting the Psalm verses he illustrates.
As a Catholic, I view Christ in Berger’s works, not something he intended or would agree with, of course, but nevertheless, just as Christ is the Word of God, so in depicting the Word Berger depicts Christ and the escatological truths of the Bible. This allows the Christian to consider a deeper interpretation of each image. For example, his illustration of verse two of Psalm 9:
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
Berger writes:
Jerusalem and its holy temple are situated at the top of a garden. Myriads of angels stand guard over this holy place. The birds represent Herut, a state of freedom, whereby man is liberated from all mundane concerns, enabling him to freely serve the Almighty.
As a Christian, this image speaks to me of the Garden of Eden transformed into our final destination of Paradise for which we hope, green being the color of hope in eternal life. The holy temple and the city of Jerusalem signifies the New Jerusalem of heaven where we will celebrate the eternal todah (Thanksgiving – Holy Eucharist). We will be among the angels (book of Revelation) who surround the throne of God, totally liberated from the imperfections of this world. Our service to the Almighty will be eternal praise and adoration which we freely begin to give in this world and continue perfectly in the next. The menorah atop the temple represents to me the rule of Christ the King and the sun connotes God and His love, mercy, and justice from Whom all life comes.
Berger paints in the seven colors of the rainbow, and each color has significance. Seven is also the number associated with God in the Bible, which reminds me of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost which are designed to bring us to perfection if we co-operate with God’s grace. In the above painting in addition to the green (hope) of the garden, we see the royal blue (Mary’s color), indigo (the heavens), yellow, red, orange, and violet.
“These paintings are in the metaphorical tradition of ma’asei merkava (Divine Chariot) rather than the realistic mode of the ma’asei Breishit (Creation) which most art work emulates,” he explains. “To transliterate the Psalms from written poems to visual image was a difficult task. Just as each psalm is different, so is each painting. And yet, as each Psalm is inherently connected to the other 149, so too a unifying element had to run through the 150 Psalm paintings, a task accomplished through careful observation.”
Berger drew inspiration for his paintings from years of study of the Psalms based on Judaism’s classic medieval commentators on the Kabbalah including Rashi, Radak and Malbim, among others, he says.
“All figurative representations are intended as metaphors. We know the world was created with letters; [an interesting take on the Word] we know that Ha-Shem (God) is represented by fire in the Bible. Therefore in each painting there are letters, or fire, or both. Nothing happened by accident.”
If you want to order prints of Berger’s work, go to the Museum of the Psalms. If you would like an entire book of his works along with his commentary, Feldheim, the publisher has a compact edition. At their page you can see into the book.
Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger – Painter of the Psalms
July 30, 2010
Since I began participating in the meme “Praying the Psalms” and stumbled on the work of Moshe Tzvi Halevi Berger, I have been thinking about this man and his work. What contribution might his paintings make to my spiritual life and my understanding of our heavenly Father? What of his life will contribute to my understanding of Orthodox Judaism? What might it tell of the minds and hearts of devout Jews at the time of Jesus? Of devout Jews of today?
These subjects may not be important to many, but I am always thinking of how we Catholics can possibly bridge the gap between our understanding of Christ and that of others. Who knows what role the answers to my questions will play in gathering others to Him? Perhaps none, but learning more will make me a better, more thankful Christian and deepen my awe of how God works in others. Of that I am sure.
To understand Berger’s paintings, it is important to understand the man. Born in 1925 in Transylvania, Berger is no ordinary person although he looks like the quintessential Jewish grandfather. He is someone I wish I could sit down and speak with for many days because of his fascinating life and work.
Berger is descended from a long line of Hassidic Rabbis. As a young man he was interned in a Nazi prison camp for several years and after being liberated completed medical school to became an oral surgeon. By 1957 he quit medical practice to study in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He also studied in Italy at Rome’s Instituto de Belle Arte and became a successful commercial artist. God was working in Berger in the midst of his secular success, however. His artistic focus changed dramatically when he began studying the Torah and Kabbalah. In 1982 as he began living as an observant Jew, he was experiencing that deep longing only God can satisfy.
A short departure here: the Torah is the five books of Moses. The Kabbalah is, according to Wikipedia
a discipline and school of thought concerned with the mystical aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an eternal and mysterious Creator and the mortal and finite universe (His creation).
As in New Age systems that corrupt Christian teaching and mash eastern mysticism with Christian spirituality, some unscrupulous people promote the Kabbalah as holding the “secrets” of all wisdom. It’s all gnosticism and what the attraction to this perversion of truth holds for many is beyond me. I can say that based on what Berger writes about his paintings, he is giving expression to the mystery of God’s love for man in his art, making verses of the Psalms become visual. Superstition and gnosticism appear to play no part in his thinking or work.
After moving to the United States in the early 1980s, Berger gained renown for very large Kabbalistic murals he painted in Florida and Brooklyn, New York. The latter was six stories high. In 1988 he began his series of Psalm paintings which would take him fifteen years to complete. The year 1992 saw him move to Jerusalem where in 1995 he founded the Museum of Psalms in a building located in the courtyard of the synagogue built by former Israel Chief Rabbi, Avraham Yitzhak Kook. Berger lives in a single room next to the museum and visitors often are privileged to have him as a guide when viewing his works.
As if illustrating all 150 Psalms was not enough, Berger embarked on the task of painting 42 images on healing, light, and meditation called the Sun series. Based on the Zohar, these are no less deep than the Psalm paintings. Completed in 2007, they are part of the collection at the Museum of Psalms.
Another short departure: the Zohar is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses). Wikipedia says,
The Zohar contains a discussion of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of Ego to Darkness and “true self” to “The Light of God,” and the relationship between the “universal energy” and man. Its scriptural exegesis can be considered an esoteric form of the Rabbinic literature known as Midrash, which elaborates on the Torah.
The goal of Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger in painting the Psalms was to “bring inspiration to the souls of many who seek spiritual enlightenment and do not live by bread alone.”
These are the very words Jesus spoke in Matt. 4:4:
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God
and Luke 4:4:
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God
derived from Deuteronomy 8:3:
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Berger has had more than 100 one-man shows on three continents. Had it not been for the internet, I would never have discovered this great and unique spiritual art which rightly belongs to the Judeo-Christian heritage. In my next post I will write a little about the elements of symbolism in his works but for now, let me say that he has inspired me on my journey of suffering with joy.
Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival
July 25, 2010
Please join me and other Catholic bloggers for a peek at our favorite posts for the week. Our hostess is RAnn at This That and the Other Thing. She always has interesting book reviews from the Catholic standpoint and other thoughtful posts as well.
Early this week I finished up some digital art pieces and wrote about the spiritual lessons I took from a subject or two. If you want to relax and enjoy them visit these posts. They’re all short. I’m asking for votes on your favorite rendition of Pogo at Adventures in Art I. For a painting of a horse’s eye visit Adventures in Art II. I finally finished my Indian Paintbrush impressionist work. It’s been on the back burner and at last it is done!
For a lovely picture of our asparagus bean flowers and what I’ve learned about raising these amazing veggies, visit The Asparagus Bean Surprise III – and if you know anything about those ugly beetles I mentioned, please tell me!
I wrote a short commentary on the Prayer from the 8th Sunday after Pentecost. Another inspiring treasure of the Church.
At Seeking God’s Will I wrote about a dear priest friend and how he died, plus a couple of paragraphs from the book he wrote, which is the subject of my spiritual reading these days.
If you love the psalms, I have a short reflection at Praying the Psalms – Psalm 28 with another painting by Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger. It’s very interesting to consider the psalms through Jewish eyes. Although the Orthodox Jews don’t accept Christ as the Messiah, I find I learn much about the Father from his paintings. I just wish I could read Hebrew.
God bless all my readers and I hope you find something here to enjoy.
Indian Paintbrush
July 21, 2010
In April we went to Texas to visit friends. The bluebonnets were almost over with and we didn’t get any pictures of them, but the Indian Paintbrush was in full bloom. They looked so bright and happy amongst the pasture green I took a number of photos from various angles in the hope of being able to paint them.
Sometimes life is overwhelming and we can find ourselves mired in the dirt of everyday living. The flowers carry a lesson for us if we pause and look. The paintbrush reaches for the sky, not bothering to look at the ground and dead leaves beneath their blooms. They simply are, and in that simplicity they glorify God.
Today we are assaulted from all sides with much that is ungodly. We can either get caught up in it and let it take over our lives, or we can, like the paintbrush, simply cut through the mire and reach for the heavens.
Spring is my favorite time of year. Everything is fresh and beautiful. The air is breezy and cool while the sun shines brightly. This is the painting of the Indian Paintbrush that I did this week using the Impressionist style with some special effects. I hope it brings a feeling of spring freshness to you in the midst of this very hot summer.
If you would like to use this image I ask that you:
- Credit me as painter,
- Leave a small donation by clicking on the donate button and,
- If you are using it at a web site, link to this post.
If you know someone who would enjoy this, please let them know about this post. Thank you.
P.S. As with all impressionist paintings, the farther away you are from it, the more you see.
Adventures in Art II
July 20, 2010
My painting time is one way I connect with God and deal with my fibromyalgia. When we must suffer, it is always better to do it with joy rather than with frustration and anger. Painting is a way for me to be joyfully with God and find ways of conveying His beauty to others through the images I create.
This past week I was learning how to use various oil brushes and some special effects in Corel Painter 11. The photo that was the basis for this image is a close-up of a horse my friend owns. I cropped the photo so viewers would be drawn to the eye and then went to town.
It took a lot of hand work to paint out whiskers and long hairs, which were distracting elements in the original photo I took. This is the first time I used a border as part of the image. One thing I’m learning is that no one medium is right for all images. You have to let the image and idea dictate the medium. With digital painting, you can experiment to your heart’s content until you get what you want, and you can use many media. I’m an eclectic sort of person so the flexibility of using many and mixed media really appeals to me. It’s also very fair to say that if digital art had not been invented, I would not be able to try to be an artist.
I love this horse. She is gorgeous and powerful and I hope this image conveys that to viewers. Her eye really is blue, in case you are wondering about it. Some quarterhorses will have a blue eye, something I learned when visiting my friend. The original image is a little bigger than 11 x 12 inches.
If you would like to use this image, it is signed in the lower right corner. All I ask is that you:
- Credit me as painter,
- Leave a small donation by clicking on the donate button and,
- If you are using it at a web site, link to this post.
If you know people who would like this, please direct them to this post. I am trying to get an idea of what different people look for in art so I can create things that others will like. Thank you.
Adventures in Art I
July 20, 2010
Regular readers know that art and beauty are part of my wellness plan, spiritually and physically. This past week I was learning how to use some brushes in Corel Painter 11 and posted a painting I did of a friend’s cat from a picture she let me use. For the fun of it, I opened my Adobe Photoshop Essentials to see what else I might be able to do, and found a couple of special effects I really liked. Not all subjects would be well suited to this, but Pogo surely is.
Here is Pogo’s portrait:
Here is Pogo carved in stone:
Here is Pogo on an old piece of crumpled art paper:
I’ve signed all of these so if you’d like to use them please:
- credit me wherever you use it,
- make a small donation by clicking the donate button and,
- link to this site if you use it on the internet.
I can’t decide which version I like the best. Which one is your favorite? if you have time to think about it, other than making a portrait for the owner, how else could the images be used? I am open to ideas because sometime soon I will have to start marketing my work and could use some inspiration.
Sabbath Moments
July 17, 2010
Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. Colleen at Thoughts on Grace hosts this meme. I cannot think of anything more important in this fast-moving world than to be quiet on a regular basis, and to recognize God as He continually reveals Himself all around us.
Today my Mom would have been 88 had she lived a few months longer. Mom was a very talented artist who had a perfect color memory just like people who have perfect pitch. She didn’t use her talent by painting because with five kids she was kept very busy. Nevertheless, she made our Easter dresses every year and our graduation dresses. They were always lovely.
Since I have been learning Corel Painter 11, I have many Sabbath Moments creating paintings from photographs. I’m sure Mom would be happy to see me carrying her talent into another generation. Working on art is very peaceful to me, and I feel like a partner with God in creating beauty. It is an important part of my wellness program.
I enjoy painting animals. This week I painted my friend Carole’s cat Pogo from a photo she took a few years ago. The cat’s pose is one professional photographers love to get which is why I wanted to paint it. Carole got it in a snapshot. Here is the original:
Here’s my painting
of Pogo which is about 9×6 inches:
Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival
July 11, 2010
Welcome to Sunday Snippets where Catholic bloggers get together over at RAnn’s This That and the Other Thing to share our favorite posts for the week. Please join us even if you aren’t a blogger because Catholic bloggers have interesting things to say.
This week I presented parts of Bishop Finn’s sermon on the feast of St. Josemaria Escriva in my A Path to Holiness post along with a link to The Catholic Key blog. This blog is by writers of the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocesan newspaper. The path to holiness is narrow but simple and we can thank St. Josemaria for bringing the ideas of St. Therese’s “Little Way” to laity living in the 20th and 21st century world.
In my Sabbath Moments post I mentioned a couple of ways God touched my life this week.
For a little information on our adventures with hollyhocks and to view my latest digital painting, visit my post A Painting of Hollyhock.
I wrote a reflection on the beautiful prayer from the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost called God, the Master Gardener.
For a reflection on Psalm 26, visit Praying the Psalms – Psalm 26 where I also introduce a painting by a Jewish Orthodox holocaust survivor who has painted all the psalms and has a permanent exhibit in Jerusalem.
God bless all my readers and thanks for visiting.
Praying the Psalms – Psalm 26
July 10, 2010
Jenny at Just a Minute hosts the meme Praying the Psalms each week. Join her and other Catholic bloggers who share their thoughts on the psalms.
Painting by Mose Tzvi HaLevi Berger illustrating v.3 of Psalm 26. His comment about it: "The branches of this tree spell the word love. A father who loves his son must teach and reproach him, sometimes with kindness and sometimes with severity. Thus the Almighty's tree projects the color of red for strength and the color of blue for mercy. As for the middle, the white zone is reserved for loving kindness celebrated by surrounding branches."
This week we are covering Psalm 26 where the author defends himself before the law. This psalm is about innocence on trial in the courts of the Lord. The innocent One, Christ, prays this to the Father on our behalf. We pray it with Christ, signifying our unity with Him.
1 Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. 2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind. 3 For Thy steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to Thee.
We are asking something fearsome in this psalm – to be tested by God in our hearts and minds – to be proven by God as as faithful to Him. God’s tests are never easy, but by constantly keeping the love God has for us before our eyes, that is, seeing and recognizing Him working in our lives for our good, we need not fear failing His tests. By putting God first in our lives, we walk in faithfulness. This does not mean that we don’t sin. It means that we seek never to sin deliberately, and to get up after falling and keep walking on that narrow path that leads to the narrow gate.
4 I do not sit with false men, nor do I consort with dissemblers; 5 I hate the company of evildoers and I will not sit with the wicked.
One of the greatest and surest pieces of spiritual advice is to keep good company. It is akin to the old saying that we are known by the company we keep. If we love God, we will keep company with others who love Him. We will withdraw from association with those committed to serving Satan even though they may promise us earthly wealth, prestige, and honors.
6 I wash my hands in innocence, and go about thy altar, O Lord, 7 singing aloud a song of thanksgiving and telling all Thy wondrous deeds.
Hand washing is symbolic of becoming clean of heart. King David speaks of coming to the altar of sacrifice with a pure heart and joining the procession around it, glorifying God. Verses 1-7 are a sworn oath in the presence of God. Jesus was the true Innocent with the most pure Heart who glorified and thanked His Father in everything, no matter how bitter His suffering.
This is an important attitude of mind for us when we attend Mass. We must be washed of sin and denounce our attractions to it before partaking in the Body and Blood of Christ. We must continually seek to be delivered from attachments to sin while asking for the grace to be attached to God. Moreover, we must develop a thankful spirit that does not hesitate to proclaim the great things God has done for us – we, spreading the Gospel, the good news of salvation and all that it implies. What Jesus did for us on the cross is what we must do for our neighbor.
8 O Lord, I love the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwells. 9 Sweep me not away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, 10 men in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes. 11 But as for me, I walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. 12 My foot stands on level ground; in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.
Graced we are when we love to attend Mass, to be present in front of the tabernacle, to be for those short moments each week transported from time into eternity. We cannot see the angels and saints in front of us at the Holy Sacrifice, but we know that we, and they, are in the house of God together, the place of glory where He dwells.
In verses 9-10, before the just Judge, we plead for the grace of faithfulness and salvation so that we do not spend eternity in hell with those who persist in offending God. I cannot help thinking of abortionists and aiders of suicide and euthanasia when I read the first part of verse ten. Our God is the God of life who always stands opposed to death and the usurpation of His power by mortals in league with Satan. It is right that we plead not to be swept away with them for in this plea we seek God’s grace to live a holy life that leads to eternity with Him. May our feet be on the level ground. May we bless the Lord with all the angels and saints forever.
About the illustration: From the Museum of Psalms in Jerusalem:
Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger, born in Transylvania in 1924, is a living embodiment of the strength of the human spirit. A Holocaust survivor, he went on to study art at both the Belle Arte in Rome and the Beaux Arts in Paris. His art has been showcased in over 100 one-man exhibitions across three continents. Mr. Berger has the distinction of being the first artist to exhibit his paintings at Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
Painting of Hollyhock
July 8, 2010
Hollyhocks are one of my favorite flowers, and also of my Dad (RIP). A few years ago we planted five in the same bed as the daylilies and iris. The second year they were just gorgeous and I took a close-up of this pink one with my 3.5 mega pixel Sony digital camera, and saved it to use for painting.
I’m glad I took the photo because the next year we were infested with Japanese beetles which loved eating the hollyhock leaves. Thus began the great Japanese beetle wars which continue to this day in our yard.
Also, we learned that hollyhocks seed themselves liberally and they started to choke out the lilies and iris. Last fall we tore them out altogether and I was sorry to see them go, but they belong on the side of a barn, along a ditch, or somewhere else where they can grow freely, be beautiful and not stunt anything else. They need lots of sun and bloom for a very long time.
I painted this with a worn oil pastel brush on artist canvas. The original is close to 5×3.5 inches but can be made much larger. If you want to use this image you are most welcome. I only ask that you
- link to this site
- make a small donation
- credit me
Someday I hope to be able to offer my services to people who would like to have paintings of pictures they own the rights to. That means I’ll have to practice doing some people portraits before long.
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