Calling all Catholic Artists: Time for new 'Epiphanies of Beauty'

I recently received a screenplay from a Catholic Father and son seeking not to retreat from Hollywood but go right into it's midst and make really good films.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - The history of the relationship between the theatre and the Christian mission has been a mixed one. It is critically important in our time to reflect on what this relationship can be as we face an imploding Western culture. Creation and Redemption are part of a grand masterpiece by the Divine Artist. He created the world out of love and for all who dwell upon it can become a manifestation of His Beauty. There is a connection between beauty and the Christian vocation to manifest the presence of the living God in this world which He still loves. To be fully Christian is to be fully human. In his "Letter to Artists" the late Servant of God John Paul II wrote of "epiphanies of beauty."

He encouraged the flourishing of all the arts in a great renewal of humanity for our age. Rather than withdraw from the arts he called Catholic artists to lead the way to their renewal and recovery. He addressed this letter to "To all who are passionately dedicated to the search for new "epiphanies" of beauty so that through their creative work as artists they may offer these gifts to the world." The letter expounds on these words from the Book of Genesis: "God saw all that He had made, and it was very good (Genesis 1:31)." It does so at an important time in human history, the beginning of a new missionary age. As a part of their vocation Christians are called to flourish in all the "theatres" of the human experience.

In the First Christian Millennium the environment into which the nascent Christian Church was sent revealed an expression of theatre which had devolved to a sad low because human culture had become debased. The film "The Gladiator", released in 2000, captured some of the spirit of the theatre of that age. Most dramatic expressions were considered indecent and a threat to a life of virtue for the early Christians. No longer recognizing the beauty of creation and the dignity of the human person the culture reveled in sexual debauchery. It was because of this that early Christian leaders discouraged participation in the theatre. Unfortunately, a hostility between the Christian Gospel and the theatre continued into the third and fourth centuries because much theatrical presentation mocked the Christian rites and the Christian message.

However, the Christian faith proclaims that in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ the transformation of the entirety of all human experience and the entire created order has begun. The early Christian community had a wonderful sense for theatre and artistic expression. The early Fathers understood the capacity of the Gospel to truly humanize men and women and through them replace debased "art" with true beauty. The fullness of liturgical expression and the works of art produced by the early Christians demonstrated this fact.

When we fast forward to the Second Christian millennium we find the first half of the Millennium witnessed a mature flowering of a Christian worldview with developments in art and Christian participation. Sadly, it did not last long. In the aftermath of the so-called "Enlightenment" and the reactions to its aftereffects in some segments of what has been called the Protestant reformation, another season of suspicion arose concerning Christian participation in the arts. The theatre was again seen as suspect and discouraged in many Christian circles. It was considered to be corrupt. A sad and limited view of both man and the world created for him by God the Divine Artist ensued.

As we began the Third Millennium, a Playwright and Artist occupied the Chair of Peter. In his "Letter to Artists" John Paul set forth an ambitious call for the participation of artists in the renewal of humanity through the flourishing of a new Christian humanism. With prophetic clarity he wrote of the "artistic vocation" as one who carried it in his own heart and incarnated it in his numerous plays.

Recognizing this mixed history of the relationship between art and Christian mission he wrote of the modern era: "... in the modern era, alongside this Christian humanism which has continued to produce important works of culture and art, another kind of humanism, marked by the absence of God and often by opposition to God, has gradually asserted itself. Such an atmosphere has sometimes led to a separation of the world of art and the world of faith."

That kind of separation between the arts and a living faith has no place in a mature Christian worldview. It proceeds from a poor anthropology, a misunderstanding of the nature of man/woman. It represents an inadequate understanding of the scope and implications of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Finally, it promotes a theology of the Church and her mission that views "the world" as a hostile environment from which the Christian and the Church must recoil rather than a palate worthy of loving transformation by those who carry on the redemptive mission of Christ the Divine Artist. It is time to get this relationship right for this Third millennium. We need Catholics, other Christians, other people of faith and good will to respond to the call of Christ the Divine Artist and take their place in creating new "epiphanies' of beauty."

This has already begun and it needs to be strongly encouraged. I recently received a screenplay from a Catholic Father and son partnership seeking, rather than retreat from Hollywood, to go right into it's midst and make really good films. I mean "good" in the fullest sense; reflecting a respect for the dignity of the human person and also well written, well produced and truly enjoyable. As I read the script I rejoiced at their wonderful work. It is a film which will appeal to people from every segment of human society and resonate within them. It is exciting, challenging, deeply touching and well, truly human. Reading this script has already changed me. I have rededicated myself to doing all I can to promote the new "Epiphanies of Beauty" for the Third Millennium.

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Calling all Catholic Artists: It is Time for new 'Epiphanies of Beauty'

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