Denver Catholic

23 DENVER CATHOLIC | MAY 11-24, 2019 Fulfi llment is di› erent. It is deeper, more constant. It can exist underneath a full range of emotional experiences. It is possible to be unhappy in a moment and yet fulfi lled on a deeper level. I have quoted it before, and I'll quote it a million times again. The Vat- ican II document Gaudium et Spes says that "Man, being the only creature created for his own sake, fi nds himself only in a sincere gift of himself." We fi nd real meaning, real fulfi ll- ment, in self-gift. In love. And that often comes in the form of sacrifi cing our own current "happiness" for the sake of someone else. Like losing sleep with a sick kid. Like spending money on tuition instead of a new car. The problem with the "pursuit of happiness" as our sole goal in life is that it detracts us from our real pur- pose — and hence, ironically, from real long-term happiness or fulfi llment. It is my belief that parenting — aside from bringing many, many happy moments — brings fulfi llment. And, that like many other fulfi lling things, it is not easy. It is not always "happy." And that those who forego it out of a misguided desire for "happi- ness" are making a lifelong mistake. I say all of this as a non-parent. I'm getting all of the "fun" that you all think you're missing out on. And, let me tell you, "fun" doesn't o› er the love, the satisfaction, the deep-down fulfi llment that is found in the joys and sacrifi ces of parenting. That is not to say that the life of a non-parent isn't or can't be fulfi lling. But our fulfi llment isn't necessarily built-in. Sometimes obligations to serve come to us. But other times we have to go looking for them — for opportunities to make a di› erence, to give ourselves, to matter. When that happens, we become "spiritual" fathers or mothers — using our mas- culine or feminine gifts to make a dif- ference in the lives those who are not our actual children. Twenty years ago, I gave the grad- uation address at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. The theme of that talk was "Living Life from the Deathbed Backwards." When you are on your deathbed, what will you want your life to have looked like? Will you be glad you had a lot of fun at a lot of nightclubs? Will you be satisfi ed that you are leaving behind a bunch of nice possessions for your relatives to fi ght over? Or do you want to look back on the ways the you made a di› erence — the lives that are here or are better because you existed? That is the di› erence between happiness and fulfi llment. And, trust me, fulfi llment is way better. A sacrament is an outward, material sign of an inward, spiritual reality. The seven sacraments are signs instituted by Jesus to communicate his grace to us. In addi- tion, we have sac- ramentals, signs and practices that draw us more deeply into our faith. We do not have an abstract faith; it is sacramental and incarnational, centered on the coming into the fl esh of the Son of God and his continued presence in the Church through the Eucharist. Art, following this sacramental iden- tity, expresses our faith, draws us into prayer, and mediates divine realities. In a time of relativism, which shuns proposals of truth and goodness, we need to rely more upon the witness of beauty. Pope Benedict XVI spoke of this opportunity and need: " I have often a¡ rmed my conviction that the true apology of Christian faith, the most convincing demonstration of its truth against every denial, are the saints, and the beauty that the faith has generated. Today, for faith to grow, we must lead ourselves and the persons we meet to encounter the saints and to enter into contact with the Beautiful." Does this approach actually work for evangelization? Elizabeth Lev details one example, the crucial role of art at a time of crisis in the Church, in her book, How Catholic Art Saved the Faith: The Triumph of Beauty and Truth in Count- er-Reformation Art (Sophia, 2018). As core Catholic doctrines faced opposi- tion from Protestants, the Council of Trent called for the creation of art to assist in renewal. The Council said that art should instruct, help to remember and meditate divine realities, admon- ish, provide examples, and to inspire the faithful to order their lives in imitation of the saints (4). Lev adds her own syn- thesis of how art assists the Church, asserting that "art is useful in evange- lization.... can bring clarity.... [and] is uplifting " (6). The Catholic Reforma- tion and Baroque periods, particularly in central Italy, were ages "of unprec- edented art patronage from the top down, e› ectively a very expensive PR campaign meant to awaken the hearts and minds of millions of pilgrims who were making their way to the Eternal City" (5). And it worked. It was not art for art's sake that led Catholics to stay true to the faith, but art's ability to express the deep spiritual vision of the Church as articulated by the great Catholic reformers. Lev lists the main protagonists of this cooperative work: "The spiritual insight of Charles Bor- romeo, Robert Bellarmine, Federico Borromeo, St. Philip Neri, and Pale- otti fused with the creative talents of Caravaggio, Barocci, the Carracci School, Lavinia Fontana, and Guido Reni, making for a heady cocktail designed to entice the faithful into experiencing mystery" (16). Lev pro- vides a masterful overview of the key theological issues at stake and how artists were commissioned to visual- ize the faith in these areas, including the sacraments, mediation of the saints, purgatory, and practices such as pilgrimage. Developments in technique enabled art to come alive, actively mediating faith, by using theatrical characteristics that invited the viewer into the drama of the scene. Altar pieces beckoned down to the action of the altar, pointing to the reality occurring there, such as Caravag- gio's The Entombment of Christ (37), and others drew the viewer into the scene, as with Frederico Barocci's extended hand of St. Francis bearing the stigmata, inviting an imitation of Christ (145). Other paintings inspired religious sentiments such as con- trition, as found in Reni's St. Peter Penitent, who models how to weep for one's sins and to beat one's chest in repentance (45), and Titian's good thief who reaches out to Christ as one would do in confession (52). The book beautifully presents the artwork, and Lev seamlessly combines art criticism and religious commentary. The time period of Lev's book bears some striking similarities to contemporary struggles. Many Cath- olics continue to question the faith, and we have experienced a return to iconoclasm in the last fi fty years, bent on the destruction of the Church's sacramental vision. We, too, need the inspiration of art, which call s us to renew our faith: "Art no longer allow[s] the viewer to stand at a safe distance, as a passive recipient of grace, but exhort[s] everyone to act" (180). For the success of the New Evangelization, we need a return to beauty. This will require us to invest in a renaissance of the arts, knowing that this investment will support the Church's e› orts to communicate the truth of our faith, for the salvation of souls. The Catholic Reader R. Jared Staudt, PhD, is a husband and father of six, the director of formation for the Archdiocese of Denver, a Benedictine oblate, prolifi c writer, and insatiable reader. DR. R. JARED STAUDT Art: A needed sacrament of faith PHOTO BY CAROLINE HERNANDEZ | UNSPLASH

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