This week the Sisters in Wilton who are serving as companion Sisters to the Sisters who are moving from Lourdes to Ozanam Hall in Bayside, NY, next week, are helping to pack and ship their things. Some of these Sisters will also go down to Ozanam to arrange each Sister's room. Next week, Sept 23-27, they will accompany them to their new home, moving five Sisters each day.
Sister Justine Nutz is one of these companion Sisters. She created a design for the large bulletin board at VND to honor this time in the Sisters' communal lives. Her reflections on her design are below the photo.
COURAGE ~
It is I! Be not afraid. (Mt 14:27)
Sieger Koder (1925-2015), a German priest-artist, shows the drowning Peter clasping the strong hand of Jesus with both his hands as the terrified apostles look on.
Koder entitled this painting Stronghold.
In German, It is I translates to Ich bin's, a less formal, more familiar way of referring to oneself, equivalent to It's me! As Jesus encourages Peter to leave the boat and step out onto the water, he says in German, Come, Peter, it's me, Jesus! Don't be afraid.
And so we know what happens. Peter begins to walk, loses focus, sinks, and desperately grabs the hand of Jesus. Koder captures the moment when the submerged Peter knows he is safe - when he feels Jesus as his strength and only hope. We have had moments like this in our own lives - perhaps even at this moment… We need courage!
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), a Dutch artist, painted his only seascape, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, at the age of 27. The high drama of this 4’ x 5’ painting distinguished him from his peers. His stunning use of chiaroscuro ~ The interplay of light and darkness ~ contrasts the terror and hope present in each of our lives. (This masterpiece can be viewed more clearly here.)
There are 14 men in the boat. Rembrandt painted himself as the 13th disciple - the young one holding onto his hat and grasping the rope, looking out at the viewer. His personal life was marked by great tragedy and sorrow. It is thought that he desired to inspire faith in the Biblical text by this act of imagination.
We, too, can put ourselves into any of the disciples’ positions ~ awakening Jesus, steering the boat, steadying the sails, retching over the side, giving up and helplessly trailing our hands in the water.
In 1990, this masterpiece was stolen, along with 12 other works, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston by thieves disguised as police officers. These works were never recovered, and the biggest art theft in US history remains an unsolved mystery.
