The Evangelical Pope | Hope Piercing Through

Each week we let Saint Pope John Paul II share meaningful signposts to spark socio-economic resolves through justice and righteousness combined with mercy and compassion; in short, love.

               ⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
                   Nor the arrow that flies by day,

               __ Psalm 91: 5 New International Version

Brussels, 20 May 1985 | Often, today, a veil of sadness darkens our culture. The human heart sometimes seems unable to hope.

               Is it the effect of the grave threats hanging over the future of humanity (Cf. Redemptor hominis, nn.15-16)?

               Does it come from the current difficulties of organizing work and society, depriving many contemporaries of jobs or sufficient income?

               Is it the weight of the obstacles that prevent people and social groups from getting along, sharing, and loving each other, people from communicating, founding stable homes, and engaging confidently with each other? Towards others?

The company is undoubtedly crumbled, and humankind defends its tiny, solitary, and discouraged domain.

But above all, they doubt the meaning of life.

               They suspect the love with which God has loved them.

               They question the possibility of overcoming obstacles and temptations.

               Moreover, their heart is sometimes influenced by materialistic ideologies that reduce man to one thing or harden the opposition between men.

The “suspicions” presented by certain modern thought forms clip the wings of hope. In short, many struggle to gather their hearts’ energies and regain hope.

This tearing apart of Western culture is mainly reflected in art. The tragedy of man is laid bare, slowly but surely. Sometimes with pride, sometimes with resignation.

Indeed, human suffering has always been a theme of art.

All great artists have come up against, sometimes all their lives, the problem of suffering and despair. But many have nevertheless let something of hope pierce through their art that is greater than suffering and decay. By expressing themselves in literature or music, modeling matter, and painting, they evoked the mystery of a new salvation, a renewed world.

In our time, too, this must be the message of authentic artists who sincerely live all that is human, even human tragedy, but who precisely know how to discover the hope given to us in this same tragedy. “This world needs beauty to not sink into despair” (Message of the Council to artists).

Excerpted from:

Viaggio Apostolico Nei Paesi-Bassi, SantaMessa Per Gli Artist (His Holiness Addresses Artists), Omelia Del Santo Padre Giovanni-Paolo II, Bruxelles, Lunedì, 20 maggio 1985.

https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/nl/homilies/1985/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19850520_artisti.html