Mercy Evangelization > Art of Mercy
God’s Merciful Heart is expressed through art.
Marlia is a beautiful young girl who taught us the art of Mercy. In going door-to-door two of the students met a wonderful family who invited me to come and receive some Mercy one afternoon. After some Ragionamento we went to the table to have cakes and drinks. While eating the delicious cake I asked Marilia, one of the daughters, what she studied in school. She replied that she was learning to design cloths.
“Oh,” I said, like a surprised sheep in the arms of Mercy. “Can I see some of your drawings, please?” A moment later she came out with a large album full of drawings. She was carrying it like the valuable treasure it was. As I turned the pages very slowly, she stood bent over me to see how I would respond. I realized that it was a great honor for a total stranger to be allowed the right to peer into her Heart.
The Heart is expressed through some form of art. I could not believe how beautiful the pencil drawings were. Even her signature flowed into the swooping and twirling lines of the dresses and blouses and other truly extraordinary creations of her Heart. As I shared with her what my Heart experienced in gazing at her artwork, she was filled with exuberant joy. I can not express how I was touched by her art. My Heart was touched. Her Heart was touched.
That evening in Ragionamento we discussed how Jesus plus art reveals the Heart. He + art = Heart. The “Mercimatics of art.” We all have an art form in us and as we release that art form people see the Heart of He. Excuse us if we say it again. We all have an art form in us which when released reveals the Heart of Jesus. Our question for ragionamento was, “What is your art form?” I ask you, “What is your art form?” Releasing that art form elevates Jesus for the world to see.
The beauty of expressed art reveals the Creator of the art, God Himself. Imagine a culture which stifles artistic expression or consigns it to a lower place than pure intelligence or political power or manual labor. When God’s Merciful Heart is consigned to a secondary place, then intelligence which is not submitted to the Heart of God can easily be harsh, cruel and judgmental.
What is your art form? There are almost as many art forms as facets to the Creative Imagination of God in us. Some of the students shared their forms of art - dance, drawing, poetry, writing, service, smiling, cooking, serving etc. When I asked them what was my art form they shouted with one grinning Heart, “Ragionamento.”
I saw Marilia again just recently when she came to hug me after Mass. The sparkle in her eyes showed that art was the link between our Hearts. Danelle has also gone to see and receive Mercy from Marilia’s drawings. You can go with us next time too. But bring your art form with you. Imagine if we had not gone door-to-door. We would have missed the Heart of Marilia.
In Mercy-Evangelization we feel free to be ourselves artistically. This confirms what every Heart knows about art. Love is best expressed through art. Another word for Love is Heart. If we reflect art from our Hearts then others receive the work of our Heart. Then they feel free to reveal their Hearts through art.
Everyone is an artist for two reasons. The first is that we were created in the Image of God and if God is anything He is an artist. Look around at the flowers and trees and fish and clouds and your hand and the ant crawling up the wall. God is an artist. Believing in God is believing we are artists.
The second reason is perhaps the first stated in another way. Everyone is an artist because everyone has a Heart. If you have a Heart then you are an artist. Someone may tell you are not but then there are people who think the Heart is evil also. Listen to your Heart. It will tell you what your art form(s) are.
Most people express their Hearts in several art forms. Danelle played her violin in Mass recently and everyone especially Jesus and Mary loved it. I won’t tell you Danelle’s other art forms because she doesn’t always appreciate me telling all about her Heart. She likes to play the violin. That is a good sign. Art expressed from the Heart is fulfilling for the one reflecting art and those receiving it. What are your art forms? Ask your Heart. Ask your friends. Sometimes you express art and everyone knows it but you.
I used to think that our whole calling was to organize expressive art sessions. We bought a building in the middle of France for that purpose. It was 6500 feet of open space to express our Hearts in. We laid 5000 feet of Maple hardwood for a floor with a one inch thick five ton rubber mat in the middle of the dance floor. The mat was 1200 feet square and with much difficulty and a tractor we were able to place it in the space left after laying the hardwood. Two hundred windows were covered with beautiful curtains and on the walls we put 200 meters of purple and blue carpet. Banners and things were strung majestically everywhere and facing the artistic mat was a thirteen foot cross. It was made of a twenty inch wide piece of hardwood and had the face of a lion and a lamb naturally engraved on it by the Artist. We also had a separate prayer room that was only 600 square feet. This all may seem relatively small until you realize we initially remodeled the building as a place where our family of six could dance.
Art is so important to us that we went to the work of doing all of the above just to express art forms. One time we had the building full of artists of all kinds, ballerinas and sculptors, and people carrying beautiful banners. We celebrated Mass there on the eleventh of February for the feast of Lourdes because it was the biggest open space in the city. I used to go to the building, put on my music and just dance and twirl in the middle of the floor. We danced together as a family. At that time I told people that the building looked like the inside of my Heart. It was before Mary came and added Fullness to our arts and to our Hearts.
Art is very important to the Mercy-Driven Life. When we go door-to-door we are always blessed by the artwork of the people we meet. It is the way a poor woman decorates the shack she lives in and carefully cleans it every day though the floor is dirt. It is the way a father holds his son’s hand and walks him to school. It is a girl with a bow and earrings, a boy jumping off a wall or pushing a car he has made out of scrap wire. It is the embroidering on the priest’s robes. The art in the little things in the lives of people reveal their Hearts. We can receive the Mercy of Jesus and Mary by carefully observing how the Hearts of people express art.
Excuse me for not capitalizing the word Art. It should be capitalized because Art is a major way that God Supernaturally expresses His Mercy to the world. Whatever your art form is, it is not yours alone. God is helping you express His Heart. When you joyfully freely express it then the world receives Mercy through you.
Art expressed from the Heart of Jesus in us is an elevation of His Presence before others. It is the Blessed Sacrament held high. You can almost see a ballerina lifting the Consecrated Host. If all Art finds its origin in the Heart of God all expression of Art is a revealing of the Lord’s Presence in us. You have often experienced the Presence of God through Art. This is not just human sentiment. It is the proof of God’s Heart in us.
The most beautiful Art expression in the universe is the Mass. The more you become the Heart of Jesus the more you love the Mass. This is partially because from beginning to end the Mass is the expression of the Art of the Heart of God. The more you become His Heart, the more you love His Art.
Embroidered throughout the Art of the Mass is Mercy. In the prayers, the words, the colors, and the Blood and Broken Body of the Cross is Mercy. The Chef d’oeuvre of the Mass and of God is Mercy. That Mercy is fully revealed when we partake of His Body and Blood together and He sculpts us into His Body. God’s Masterpiece is the Image of His Son’s Heart of Mercy expressed through our Crucified Lives.