Art is the one subject we were taught in school which I never understood and which I never had even the beginnings of talent for. . . At the age of six I gained a diploma for something I drew. It was an inverted semi-circle with some convergent straight lines below it, and I called it a parachute. The circular part was drawn mechanically with the use of a penny, and the straight lines were drawn mechanically by the use of a ruler. The product was more a work of geometry than of art. [It] depended on mechanical guides more than on six-year old creativity. There was no risk involved, no commitment.
There is a work of art that each of us has to produce. It cannot be produced by mechanical methods or cut and dried instructions that remove all risk and commitment and creativity, and yet we do need guidance and help all the time as we work away at it. . . The work of art you and I have to produce is Christ our Lord in our very life and in our very identity. Another way of saying this is that we have to become Saints. . .
There is no doubt at all about the fact that Our Father in heaven wants to receive from His sons and daughters a work of art, and although this work of art is His Son painted in our hearts and souls, nevertheless, He wants the work of art to be ours. He wants something much more than mechanical drawings of parachutes, as it were, but the work we produce must be our own work, for which He can reward us, as well as seeing our own creativity in it. If all we do as Christians is to obey the rules and ask someone else what to do in all cases of making decisions and resolutions, then the work of art we produce is not our own. . .
God so loves you as the unique gem of an individual that He made when He created you, that despite His divine longing for you to be perfect and a Saint, He would rather have you imperfect in your efforts to please Him than to have you perfect but artificial or not your own work. God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to save us. God so loves you that He will even let you sin rather than violate your own free will, which makes whatever you do your own work, an expression of yourself. Our Father in heaven wants us to be perfect because He loves us, but He loves you more than He loves your perfection. That is why He shows such mercy to you if you let Him down from time to time. . .
I think that when we get tired of trying to be better sons and daughters of God, it is often because we have really lost our vision of how beautiful a work it is, or have overlooked the great rewards and peace that go with a genuine spiritual life. What we must do is to make full use of two instruments in our artistic work for God in our soul. The first is the word of God, and the second is prayer. . .
Jesus told us that His word was spirit and life. Not only does God’s word instruct us, but it contains grace to enable us to live it. . .
The word of God becomes life in us when we pray. Prayer is our response to God’s word in us. . . The more we absorb the word of God, the more we grow like Jesus, the Word of God living a human life. . .
Thank God when living a good life seems hard and you have to make a great effort as you imitate Christ. Thank God if you find it difficult at times to pray. Thank God if at times you feel perplexed. Seek help from a spiritual director if the difficulties persist, but in all these difficulties we can always make an act of faith. I do not mean just saying, “Lord, I believe.” I mean an interior spiritual affirmation that God is with you. Join to this a similar firm interior act of hope, which combines absolute trust in the mercy of God with the conviction that
He will bring good out of what you are doing. Join with these acts of faith and hope and interior act of love for God. If you can make all three acts in one living aspiration, a trinitarian act, you will have made a deep communion with God. Such acts of faith, hope, and charity always unite us with God, always paint the likeness of Christ into us more, and they do not depend on our feeling in a good mood, or feeling religious, or feeling anything special.
If we combine real appreciation of the word of God, which tells us about the Good Shepherd, the Father of the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, and so one, with the prayer of faith, hope, and charity, I do not see how we can fail to grow closer and closer to God and receive greater and greater benefit from the Sacraments.
