Inside ML

“A recent Public Broadcasting Station television program in the United States, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, selected the 10 most significant events of the past 1,000 years. Fifth on the list was the church’s patronage of the arts. What rank will the church’s patronage of the arts achieve in this millennium?” asks Joseph Pizzat in a letter to John Paul II in response to the pontiff’s Letter to Artists (see page 10). “Today’s artists should know in what ways the church is able to give substance and support to this third-millennium “renaissance” of which you so powerfully speak.”

The use of image and symbol, dance and movement, poetry and metaphor to communicate our faith is as ancient as the church itself. Sometimes, however, we do not trust our artists to do an adequate job, turning instead to a language perhaps better suited to instruction books and owner’s manuals. 

“Perhaps we resist using images, relying more on words,” I wrote recently, “because images can be more difficult to manage, are more open to varied interpretations, and are not easily locked into definitions that can be written into catechisms and creeds” (Liturgical Catechesis Newsletter 3, no. 5).

But the more difficult path is the one we are called to follow. John Paul II said in his Letter to Artists,  “In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art. Art must make perceptible, and as far as possible attractive, the world of the spirit, of the invisible, of God. It must therefore translate into meaningful terms that which is in itself ineffable. Art has a unique capacity to take one or other facet of the message and translate it into colors, shapes and sounds which nourish the intuition of those who look or listen” (12).

The next era of the church can be either a time when we sink deeper into a sea of words to try to nail down once and for all the exact precepts of our faith or a time when the image of the creator in all of us is resurrected and the Gospel story is proclaimed in ever-new ways.

This month ML continues one of the many ways in which it supports the artistic efforts of the church. The winners of the annual Visual Arts Awards: Stained Glass competition begin on page 6. It’s not too soon to start thinking about next year’s competition. By the time you get around to photographing the work, getting the slides copied, getting the entry form filled out, etc., the deadline will be upon you (March 31, 2001). For an entry form and contest rules, send a long, self-addressed envelope to VAA Contest, 160 E. Virginia St., #290, San Jose CA 95112.

Wording our faith

Words are not the root of all evil, however, and you’d never want to hear your friendly magazine editor disparaging the printed page. In fact, the print medium can be a very effective way of spreading the Gospel. James Jordan gives us some tips on how to get good press for our parishes and all the hard work faith communities do to reach out to the people around them. See his article starting on page 17 for a list of the five elements that should be included in every story about your parish, the characteristics of a good and bad press release, and a news release checklist.

Farewell

This issue marks Karen Barta’s last installment in the Year of … series (page 34). ML is deeply grateful for her three years of dedication to helping us better understand the liturgical Gospel.

Correction
In ML’s September Artists Directory, we incorrectly listed Gregory M. Davis’ name as Gregory A. Davis.ML

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