Dear AGAC friends
Do you enjoy reflecting on Christian art? I do. In my recent retreat, we spent a lot of time reflecting on Rembrandt’s painting of Return of the Prodigal Son (see right). The painting really enhanced my understanding of the story in Luke 15, and spoke to my heart quite powerfully.
The canvas art on the cover of this newsletter was painted around 1640 by Gioachino Assereto in Italy. As you could see, it portrays the scene of the gospel passage for this Sunday.
In the picture, we see Christ in full movement reaching out to touch Bartimaeus’ eyes. What stood out for me is that the blind man is leaning backwards, taken by surprise. Notice, his stick is floating on his right into an empty space. I believe Assereto wanted to emphasise that it will no longer be needed after the healing, made obsolete by Jesus’ touch. A cheeky boy is about to take the man’s begging cup,but as witnessing the healing, he leaves the cup where it was.
Once Bartimaeus could see, a whole new world opened up for him. When you get up in the mornings and open your eyes, do you really see the world around you? What do you notice? the new shoots on the ground, lonely person on the street…..? If our sight had been healed like that of the blind man in our reading, we would notice all these things. This Sunday is a day we can pray for us to regain our sight too.
Nga mihi
Yukiko
