All Souls’ Day
Upon the easel of the cross, hope emerges
Father Ronald Patrick Raab Comments Off on All Souls’ Day
In November, I cherish the creative Holy Cross religious buried in our community cemetery at the University of Notre Dame. On All Souls’ Day, I walk among graves and push away oak leaves with my feet to read the names on headstones. The concrete crosses marking the lives and deaths of Holy Cross members are identical except for the names and dates carved in them. The crosses are silent while I remember the beauty of the creative lives these men led. Upon the easel of death, I see empty pulpits, dusty music stands and dried paintbrushes.
I listen in the cemetery to the tenor voice of Father Patrick, who taught music and voice at Notre Dame. In my imagination’s eye, I view again his desk piled with music scores he so wanted us to hear and learn about. His voice is no longer, a concept I struggle to imagine because he taught with such passion. I thought I would always hear a Puccini opera in his classroom. Now I stand here, appreciating the priesthood, the artist, the vocalist, in the presence of so many confreres who have been silenced by death. Upon the easel of the cross, I hear songs of consolation.
Preachers are buried here, men with poetic gifts and honed skills. They believed the Word of God and the freedom it brings people living with ill health, disease or addiction. One preacher told me to always examine the Word from an oblique angle, to show the healing gift of the Gospels to people on the margins of life. I have been listening and preaching from such a perspective my entire priesthood. The Gospels preached with love are heard in love. This proclamation gives birth to artistic license. The poor deserve to know they are loved by God and offered boundless mercy in their pain. I rejoice in the Word made flesh in every generation of preachers. I am grateful for artists of the Word, no matter their turn of phrase or vantage point.
I find the gravestone of Father Anthony and admire his artistic courage. His stained-glass-window design in Moreau Seminary chapel still invites seminarians to know they are cared for by angels. The songs and melodies of the angels playing harps and horns in glass invite young men to remain in harmony with God’s justice and wisdom. Father Anthony’s chapel must have raised an eyebrow in 1957, with its visual strength and freestanding altar well before the Second Vatican Council. His vision in concrete shows us that creativity is meant for every generation of believers.
As I meander across the cemetery, I reflect upon the artists I knew in their creative days. Sometimes, the work of an artist threatens people. Abstract images, color patterns, wordsmithing and poetic twists may intimidate the viewer or hearer. Those ideas reveal there is more to the Gospel story than was first written from memory. The Holy Spirit ignites imaginations when we come close to the flame of God’s love. Art is ever relevant; art is not bound by graces from the past. Art is alive, even well beyond the artist’s human life. Art reflects what Jesus is doing in the world, not just what Jesus did in the past.
In this month of the dead, we reflect on the priests and artists we have known. There is room for a new generation who will interpret Scriptures and catechisms with new viewpoints, ideas, melodies, color combinations and advanced technologies. No one artistic expression captures the graces given to God’s poor in the Gospels or the love Christ has to offer his people. Mercy and forgiveness are expressed in many colors.
In every religious community and diocese, we are grateful for our mentors as we celebrate the end of the liturgical year. As priests, we are immersed in gratitude. We invite new vocations to appreciate the art of the past. On All Souls’ Day, in cemeteries, we pray among those who showed us how to believe in Christ Jesus. Someday, new generations will remember us. True art and faith are partners in bearing witness to honesty and love. As I reminisce among the oak leaves this November, I am inspired to deepen my life of prayer and to put a new canvas on my easel.
FATHER RONALD PATRICK RAAB, CSC, serves as religious superior at Holy Cross House, a medical facility and retirement home for the Congregation of Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana. Learn more at www.ronaldraab.com.