Dear Parish Family,
We all know someone who is incredibly creative. You may be saying “not me!” We need to look at the gifts God has provided for us. We all are blessed with charisms. I am fascinated with people who are inventive. My skill along that line is limited to creating a new recipe.
St Hildegard of Bingen is known as the Saint of Creativity. She was a 12th century German abbess, artist, healer, and composer. At the time she made contributions to medicine, theology, art, history and music. There is a documentary called The Unruly Mystic about her life, which talks about how this early female was regarded for her intellectualism. She embraced the connection
between God, nature, and art. She taught how to create magic in our lives where the ordinary touches the divine. Perhaps this is something we all need to explore.
Some of the profound truths of life were best demonstrated by Karol Wojtyla also known as St Pope John Paul II in underground Poland during 1941, where he reveled in art, the essence of a poem, the melody of song, the conveyance of biblical material through a deeper meaning and an idea coming from a seedling thought.
St Catherine of Bologna was born in 1413 in Italy and is known as the patron Saint of the Arts. She was born to a well to do family, educated – rare for a girl of this time – and went on to join the religious order known as the Poor Clares, which was founded by St Francis and St Clare of Assisi. St Catherine told us to “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” At the very least we can set a fire within us. I love her quote and may post it as a reminder “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.”
Praying for God to reveal our creativity can be truly heartwarming!
Mary Jo