THE ART ESSAY OF THE MONTH
Prayer and work were linked closely in the home of Nazareth, built and sustained by the manual labor of Joseph, husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus. Work was a form of prayer, as the work of Joseph’s hands provided for the earthly needs of the Holy Family. In his evocative painting titled The Childhood of Christ, the 17th-century Dutch painter Gerrit van Honthorst offers a visual catechesis on the dignity and sanctity of work, as visible in the childhood home of Jesus. The artist invites us into the inner recesses of the home of Jesus in Nazareth where the daily, humble work of Joseph the carpenter was sanctified by the presence of the child Jesus and transformed by the light of faith, hope, and love.
Saint Joseph—man with a father’s heart
In his apostolic letter With a Father’s Heart, written for the Year of Saint Joseph, Pope Francis draws attention to several virtues of the foster-father of Jesus. Among these is the “creative courage” of Saint Joseph …More