Saint John Paul II invites us to embrace the Way of Beauty in his Letter to the Artists, April 4, 1999.
These quotations from his Letter inspired us to contemplate the mysteries of our faith.
3... Beauty and goodness can be linked together. Beauty is the visible form of the good, just as the good is the
metaphysical condition of beauty. God saw all that he created was good. Plato writes: “The power of the Good has taken refuge in the nature of the Beautiful.” The artist has a special relationship to beauty. In a very true sense it can be said that beauty is the vocation bestowed on him by the Creator in the gift of ‘artistic talent’. And certainly, this too is a talent which ought to be made to bear
fruit, in keeping with the sense of the Gospel parable of the talents.. Matt. 25:14-30. Here we touch on an essential point. Those who perceive in themselves this kind of divine spark which is the artistic vocation as poet, writer, sculptor, architect, musician, actor and so on feel at the same time the obligation not to waste this talent but to develop it, in order to put it at the service of their neighbor and humanity as a whole.
4 .... Obedient to their inspiration in creating works both worthwhile and beautiful, they not only enrich the cultural
heritage of each nation and of all humanity, but they also render an exceptional social service in favor of the
common good.
5... This prime epiphany of “God who is Mystery” is both an encouragement and a challenge to Christians, also at
the level of artistic creativity. From it has come a flowering of beauty which has drawn its sap precisely from the
mystery of the Incarnation. In becoming man, the Son of God has introduced into human history all the evangelical
wealth of the true and the good, and with this he has also unveiled a new dimension of beauty, of which the Gospel
message is filled to the brim. Sacred Scripture has thus become a sort of immense vocabulary (Paul Claudel) and
“iconographic atlas” (Marc Chagall), from which both Christian culture and art have drawn.... Everyone , believers
or not, the works of art inspired by Scripture remain a reflection of the unfathomable mystery which engulfs and
inhabits the world.
These quotations from his Letter inspired us to contemplate the mysteries of our faith.
3... Beauty and goodness can be linked together. Beauty is the visible form of the good, just as the good is the
metaphysical condition of beauty. God saw all that he created was good. Plato writes: “The power of the Good has taken refuge in the nature of the Beautiful.” The artist has a special relationship to beauty. In a very true sense it can be said that beauty is the vocation bestowed on him by the Creator in the gift of ‘artistic talent’. And certainly, this too is a talent which ought to be made to bear
fruit, in keeping with the sense of the Gospel parable of the talents.. Matt. 25:14-30. Here we touch on an essential point. Those who perceive in themselves this kind of divine spark which is the artistic vocation as poet, writer, sculptor, architect, musician, actor and so on feel at the same time the obligation not to waste this talent but to develop it, in order to put it at the service of their neighbor and humanity as a whole.
4 .... Obedient to their inspiration in creating works both worthwhile and beautiful, they not only enrich the cultural
heritage of each nation and of all humanity, but they also render an exceptional social service in favor of the
common good.
5... This prime epiphany of “God who is Mystery” is both an encouragement and a challenge to Christians, also at
the level of artistic creativity. From it has come a flowering of beauty which has drawn its sap precisely from the
mystery of the Incarnation. In becoming man, the Son of God has introduced into human history all the evangelical
wealth of the true and the good, and with this he has also unveiled a new dimension of beauty, of which the Gospel
message is filled to the brim. Sacred Scripture has thus become a sort of immense vocabulary (Paul Claudel) and
“iconographic atlas” (Marc Chagall), from which both Christian culture and art have drawn.... Everyone , believers
or not, the works of art inspired by Scripture remain a reflection of the unfathomable mystery which engulfs and
inhabits the world.
6.... Every genuine artistic intuition goes beyond what the senses perceive and reaching beneath reality’s surface,
strives to interpret its hidden mystery. The intuition itself springs from the depths of the human soul, where the
desire to find meaning to one’s own life is joined by the fleeting vision of beauty and of the mysterious unity of
things. All artists experience the unbridgeable gap which lies between the work of their hands, however successful
it may be, and the dazzling perfection of the beauty glimpsed in the ardour of the creative moment: what they
manage to express in their painting, sculpting, creating, is no more than a glimmer of the splendour which flared for
a moment before the eyes of their spirit. Believers find nothing strange in this: they know that they have had a
momentary glimpse of the abyss of light which has its original wellspring in God..... If the intimate reality of things
is always beyond the powers of human perception, how much more so is God in the depths of his unfathomable
mystery!
Every genuine art form in its won way is a path to the inmost reality of man and of the world. It is therefore a
wholly valid approach to the realm of faith, which gives human experience its ultimate meaning. That is why the
Gospel fullness of truth was bound from the beginning to stir the interest of artists, who by their very nature are alert
to “epiphany” of the inner beauty of things.
13 The Church has always appealed to their creative powers interpreting the Gospel message and discerning its
precise application in the life of the Christian community... It remains true, however, that because of its central
doctrine of the Incarnation of the Word of God, Christianity offers artists a horizon especially rich in inspiration.
strives to interpret its hidden mystery. The intuition itself springs from the depths of the human soul, where the
desire to find meaning to one’s own life is joined by the fleeting vision of beauty and of the mysterious unity of
things. All artists experience the unbridgeable gap which lies between the work of their hands, however successful
it may be, and the dazzling perfection of the beauty glimpsed in the ardour of the creative moment: what they
manage to express in their painting, sculpting, creating, is no more than a glimmer of the splendour which flared for
a moment before the eyes of their spirit. Believers find nothing strange in this: they know that they have had a
momentary glimpse of the abyss of light which has its original wellspring in God..... If the intimate reality of things
is always beyond the powers of human perception, how much more so is God in the depths of his unfathomable
mystery!
Every genuine art form in its won way is a path to the inmost reality of man and of the world. It is therefore a
wholly valid approach to the realm of faith, which gives human experience its ultimate meaning. That is why the
Gospel fullness of truth was bound from the beginning to stir the interest of artists, who by their very nature are alert
to “epiphany” of the inner beauty of things.
13 The Church has always appealed to their creative powers interpreting the Gospel message and discerning its
precise application in the life of the Christian community... It remains true, however, that because of its central
doctrine of the Incarnation of the Word of God, Christianity offers artists a horizon especially rich in inspiration.
~ Art of Faith artists 2020 ~
Don Barry- Bettendorf, IA, wood saw scrolling
Lynn Barry- Bettendorf, IA, quilting
Dennis Carlson- Bettendorf, IA, wood carving;
Judith Costello, Davenport, IA, mixed media, painting, drawing
Brenda DeLathouwer, Rock Island, IL Art /Prayer books of Sr. Wendy
Jordan Emmerick, Moline, IL, knot rosaries
Kee Fryxell, Davenport, IA, colored pencils, pastel
Alba Goebel- Chillicothe, IL, portrait painting;
Paul Herrera- Moline, IL, calligraphy;
Dennis Hurd- Bettendorf, IA, woodworking
Fr. William Kneemiller, Davenport, IA, Holy Land Miltary rosaries, prayer books
Mindy, Tina, Eveyln and Ruth Olson- Moline, IL, pocket saint peg dolls
Jerome Quigley, Bloomfield, IN, Western Red Cedar Wayside shrines
Jill Rodts- Milan, IL, painting, drawing, poetry;
Kathryn Weets, Lost Nation, IA, oil paintings and colored pencils
Rory Wellner, Rock Island, IL, crochet hearts
Lynn Barry- Bettendorf, IA, quilting
Dennis Carlson- Bettendorf, IA, wood carving;
Judith Costello, Davenport, IA, mixed media, painting, drawing
Brenda DeLathouwer, Rock Island, IL Art /Prayer books of Sr. Wendy
Jordan Emmerick, Moline, IL, knot rosaries
Kee Fryxell, Davenport, IA, colored pencils, pastel
Alba Goebel- Chillicothe, IL, portrait painting;
Paul Herrera- Moline, IL, calligraphy;
Dennis Hurd- Bettendorf, IA, woodworking
Fr. William Kneemiller, Davenport, IA, Holy Land Miltary rosaries, prayer books
Mindy, Tina, Eveyln and Ruth Olson- Moline, IL, pocket saint peg dolls
Jerome Quigley, Bloomfield, IN, Western Red Cedar Wayside shrines
Jill Rodts- Milan, IL, painting, drawing, poetry;
Kathryn Weets, Lost Nation, IA, oil paintings and colored pencils
Rory Wellner, Rock Island, IL, crochet hearts