The Artist Lives for Christ

What does it mean when Paul tells us it is no longer he who lives but Christ who lives in him?

In Paul’s time it was believed that the only way to have a right relationship with God was to follow the law, the Ten Commandments and all the thousands of rules that derive from them.

But Paul rejected this idea and preached that the only road to justification, to having that right relationship with God, is through faith in Jesus Christ.

It is not enough to simply “follow the rules” and stay out of trouble. If that is all we do then we are trying to achieve heaven by our own merits. God wants more from us than that.

God invites us into a relationship of friends and family, a relationship of love. This type of relationship is a living, dynamic one. To love Christ and to want to be near Him is to be crucified with Him.

It means standing up for the Truth even when it is unpopular. It means finding time to pray. It means that we stay faithful to the teachings of Jesus. And it means that when we fail, we humbly confess our sins as we would apologize to a friend we have hurt, so that that relationship can be restored.

It means that we must reflect Christ to the whole world, so that when people look at us they do not see us, they see Christ.

For the Artist this means we must deeply consider our vocation, John Paul II described it as a vocation of beauty. Do we work to bring beauty to the world? Do we use our gifts to lift peoples hearts and minds to God? Does our work reflect His splendor and bring hope and joy to our brothers and sisters? This may mean we are called to sacrifice lucrative opportunities. or turn away from work that does not suit our vocation. But in the end that is what it means to live for Christ and not for ourselves.

Pax Vobiscum
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time