There have been - for the many thousands of years of human civilisation - and still now in our present world, countless conflicts and wars. So much human suffering, death and destruction. Our broken world needs peace. We all need HOPE that we will soon find the path to peace.
The three greatest Christian virtues are faith, hope and love. I am reminded of the words of my favourite Evangelist, St. Paul who said :
“ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; ”
1 Corinthians 13:13
‘Four Candles of Faith, Hope, Peace and Love’ by Melanie Yeoh
©Dr. Melanie Yeoh
The lovely whimsical drawing above is by my young friend, Melanie Yeoh a physician who works with refugees and whose artistic sketches and illustrated storyboards light up Catholic theological teaching for children and young people. In ‘Four Candles’ above, I asked Melanie to sketch an imaginary ‘conversation’ between four candles each one named after the virtues of Faith, Hope, Peace and Love. These imaginary candles were featured in a You Tube video as well. The storyline is straight-forward and compelling. There were four candles which were lit at the same time. At first they all burn brightly together but then, one by one three of the candles go off. First, Peace, then, Faith and finally, Love. Only the candle, Hope continues to burn.
The Peace Candle sorrowfully says as it shuts down , “ The world is so full of anger and fighting. No one can keep me lit anymore.”
The Faith Candle then goes off too and says, “ Faith is no longer indispensable ; it does not make sense for me to stay lit anymore.”
The Love candle tries hard to stay lit but gives up, saying as it too shuts down, “People have forgotten my importance ; they simply put me aside. They forget how to love.”
But the last candle of Hope is still burning. In the glooming darkness, we clap our hands and cry out with joy seeing this candle of Hope. We know that when Hope is still burning, when there is a flame, however small, we can use the flame of the Hope Candle to light up the other three candles – one by one - of Peace, Faith and Love. And then all four candles will burn brightly again.
Just like our four candles above, don’t let the flame of hope leave your life. Hope must never diminish if we wish to preserve peace, faith and love.
Again, the words of St. Paul the Evangelist resounds :
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
Romans 12:12
“…Christ Jesus our hope - To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(1 Timothy 1:1-2)
The many eloquent moving letters of St. Paul the Evangelist give us hope; he reassures his followers that their faith in Jesus Christ is their hope because Jesus is leading them directly to God.
‘Hope on the Banks of the Clyde’ by Steuart Padwick specifically installed for the Cop26 meeting in Glasgow in the UK.
The more than 20 metre high ‘Hope On the Banks of the Clyde’ sculpture above by artist Steuart Padwick shows an androgynous child perched on a gigantic tripod with its arms stretched out to the Heavens. This unusual artwork is made entirely of recycled materials and was installed on the banks of the River Clyde and reaching out across the skyline to the industrial city of Glasgow in Scotland. The message of the Hope sculpture is simple and positive; a message of hope for the fate of our planet in the climate crisis facing our broken world today. To reinforce this stark artwork, the Hope Sculpture has been installed in a green park once home to Glasgow’s last working coal mine – unhealthy, miserable and bleak. The tripod on which the child figure perches on was designed by Steuart Padwick to echo the industrial brick chimneys that once dominated Glasgow’s blighted skyline.
‘The Rainbow’. Oil on canvas by George Innes (1825-1894)
The painting of a dark and bleak landscape above by the influential American landscape artist George Innes (1825 – 1894) features a rainbow lighting up part of a dark sky, representing hope and a new beginning. The landscape shows desolation but then a rainbow appears over the bleakness. Just as when the great floods ended for the biblical Noah in his ark, he saw the rainbow of hope; rainbows are a symbol of hope for us wherever we are in the world. George Innes is often known as one of the greatest American landscape artists. This painting with Innes’ masterful use of light, colour and shadow captures the spiritual wonder of hope. Innes says that he attempts through his art to demonstrate the "reality of the unseen" and to connect the "visible upon the invisible." Hope is evident in this painting.
Centre and right : Fr. Joseph Tham LC. © photo by Allister Lee
Far Left : Fr. Joseph Tham’s book, ‘Art For God’.
The three seal carvings below are carved by Fr. Joseph Tham LC who is the unusual combination of Catholic priest, medical doctor, university professor in Bioethics at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome and also a thoughtful artist of extraordinary Chinese paintings, calligraphy and seals. Fr. Joseph Tham has written many compelling books and articles on Catholic theology and spirituality. For me as a lay person, I have been touched by how Fr. Tham is able to communicate so personally and vividly with God through his beautiful Chinese paintings, calligraphy and seal-carvings. And so, for today’s article, I have chosen three of Fr. Tham’s seal carvings to show how he uses this ancient Chinese art form to explore Christian spirituality – in this case, faith, hope, peace and Emmanuel.
Faith, Hope and Love – seal by Fr. Joseph Tham LC
( This enlarged re-production is not the exact size of the seal carving which is much smaller)
HOPE is a positive outcome. Like our candle of Hope, the light of hope shines brightly in the darkness. Fr. Tham in his book, ‘Art For God’ says:
“…[ the] way of perfection begins with the four cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude. Together with the theological virtues of ‘Faith, Hope and Love’ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we can grow into the New Creation and follow the path towards love and perfection. Virtues and character formation require much discipline and self-denial in the beginning. At the same time, we also experience the interior freedom as children of God.”
Hope, Faith and Emmanuel
Christians never lose sight of Hope because for us, our concept of Hope is related to God – our expectation, trust and confidence in Him. Our hope is strengthened by our FAITH in the word of God.
In the Gospel of Matthew, he writes, “…and in His name, the Gentiles will hope.”
( Matthew 12:21).
St Paul writes in Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for.”
God will come through ! We cannot have Hope without Faith. We need to trust God.
The Emmanuel Seal by Fr. Joseph Tham LC
( This enlarged re-production is not the exact size of the seal carving which is much smaller)
“In the Emmanuel seal above, the words ‘主在 ‘ are highly symbolic. The first word ‘主’ means ‘LORD’ and looks like a drop of blood. The original word actually depicts a candle stand with a flame represented by the dot on top. The simplified form uses only the dot in the carving. The second word ‘在’ means ‘WITH’ and is an ancient word that now resembles the cross ( as described below in the description of the seal, ‘On Earth, Peace to People of Goodwill’). It stands for presence. The two words together mean the Lord is here, the Lord is present—Emmanuel. God is with us. It is striking because God is with us even at the cross when he sheds his blood. He is with us precisely because he wants to suffer in our place; to save us by dying.”
( Fr. Joseph Tham LC in his book, ‘ART FOR GOD’)
So, indeed hope was found in the name “Emmanuel” (God with us). In Faith. Jesus is his name. Emmanuel is how He functions. There is nothing more peaceful and hopeful for our broken world than to know we have God's constant presence and attention.
ON EARTH PEACE TO PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL
Peace on Earth Seal by Fr. Joseph Tham LC
( This enlarged re-production is not the exact size of the seal carving which is much smaller)
Fr. Tham describes this seal in his book, ‘Art For God’ as follows :-
“This seal consists of nine characters within a 3 by 3 grid in the style of the Han period. This is also called a ‘Han seal’. The method of carving is to fit the characters within the square grids. In creating this seal, I wanted to emphasize the character in the middle. What is this character? Doesn’t it resemble a Cross? However, if you show this character to Chinese people two or three thousand years ago, they would not think it is a crucifix. Back then, they did not know about Christianity. So, what is this character? It is a puzzle! But, this is actually a verse from the Bible and which we say at Mass, “On earth, peace to people of good will”. The character in the middle that resembles the cross is the character ‘with’ (在) . This ancient Chinese character resembles the cross but this character ‘with’ (在) is common in sound with the character ‘only ’/”just” (才) written in ancient Chinese. It is a pictophonetic word. The phonetic of (在) and (才) sounds very similar. As to this character ‘with’ (在) why does it create such an impact on us? It is because it looks like Jesus crucified on the Cross. Also, the Chinese concept of the character ‘with’ (在) implies that “God is by our side”. God is with us! God is very present. Therefore, this character can make us think very deeply. God is with us. He is Emmanuel. This Scriptural verse, “and on earth, peace to people of good will” which we would say during Christmas and at Mass. We profess that from the time Jesus came to this world until His death; He is present among us; He is ‘with’ us. Because of His presence, people of good will can have true peace.”
Indeed, Peace with God is a gift of Jesus Christ. Peace within oneself is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. And peace between ALL peoples of the world requires love, morality, righteousness and decency.
I end this essay with ‘Peace’. Jesus Christ, in the first century, must have said ‘ Peace Be With You’ every day hundreds of times to everyone he met.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
( John 14:27)
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