I CONSIDER it a great blessing to meet a growing number of artists, like painters and poets, and others in allied fields, like those engaged in art critiques and heritage reporting.
I consider them very gifted, privileged people who can play crucial roles in developing and preserving the cultural life of our society. They can become our national treasures and cultural icons indeed!
This view could be because I’m a frustrated artist myself. I know there’s something inside me egging me to perform and dabble in some arts. But this keen desire has never been matched by the corresponding skills and techniques.
My drawings, for example, have never gone further than the level of my kindergarten doodles and caricatures, no matter how much I try.
And my effort at being a kind of art critic or cultural historian has never been supported by one important ingredient—patience. I instantly wilt even at the smell of some difficulty. And there are plenty of difficulties in this field!
My artistic friends come in different shapes and forms. One common thing among them seems to be their propensity to be some kind of non-conformist, if not in dressing and general appearance, then in reasoning and in reacting to things.
When I’m with them, I often get reminded of what St. Paul once said in his first letter to the Corinthians: “But the foolish things of the world has God chosen to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world has he chosen to confound the strong,” (1,27) and I identify myself with them.
They see things differently. They understand things in an unusual way. And more, they manage to express these perceptions in a beautiful manner, leading others, the ordinary mortals, to see and understand things in a deeper sense.
The artists, like everybody else, do their work by complying with the usual requirements of work. Our work is supposed to be a work with God and for God. It’s ideally always a cooperation with God, never just our own. Somehow our work involves a certain inspiration.
Thus, the Catechism teaches us that “arising from talent given by the Creator and from man’s own effort, art is a form of practical wisdom, uniting knowledge and skill, to give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight and hearing.
“To the extent that it is inspired by truth and love for beings, art bears a certain likeness to God’s activity in what he has created. Like any other human activity, art is not an absolute end in itself, but is ordered to and ennobled by the ultimate end of man.” (5201)
But the artists’ work has another special quality. Its inspiration is “sui generis.” It involves uncommon elements. Again, let’s hear from the Catechism about this point:
“Art is a distinctively human form of expression. Beyond the search for the necessities of life common to all living creatures, art is a freely given superabundance of the human being’s inner riches.” (5201)
Arts offers a window to mysterious types of truths that go beyond what words can capture. These truths can be the beauty of creation, the depths of the human heart, the exaltation of the soul, and the very mystery of God.
As can be readily seen, the arts is not just a matter of skills and techniques. Though these elements are always indispensable, it is more a matter of inspiration, of how closely and intimately it is able to mirror these truths that are beyond words.
I would say that the arts is our human effort to reach the very source of truth itself, who is also the very source of goodness, unity and beauty. It, by definition, points us to God. It would be a misuse if pursued any other way.
The arts is the happy marriage between inspiration and execution. It’s when a beautifully inspired message manages to express itself in an equally beautiful way.
Thus, we should feel the great need to develop the arts. Even as we grapple with the more practical needs of our life, we should never neglect the arts.
Our Church’s history reflects this concern. May we always strengthen that trend. We can talk about our rice crisis at present, but let’s not forget the arts!
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