by Joan Mitchell, CSJ
Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus repeats in this Sunday’s gospel these words that climaxed his reading from the prophet Isaiah in last Sunday’s gospel. In this statement Jesus identifies himself as the prophet the Spirit anoints to bring good news to the poor. Jesus will inaugurate a jubilee era in which the poor and oppressed have a new chance to thrive. For Luke, this is Jesus’ vision for his mission.
Ansgar Holmberg, an artist and Sister of St. Joseph, thinks that visions of justice precede and foster action for justice. Her art envisions a world in which diverse people live in communion with one another and with Earth. Her work sees people in an interdependent web of life with all that lives in the cosmos. She believes that every person is an artist, capable of imagining what can be.
At the site of a Habitat for Humanity Blitz, I encountered an older couple who saw in the activity around them a vision of what humanity could be. Roberta and Walter Green lived in Benton Harbor, Michigan, during better economic times for the city. “In its glory days,” said Walter. Their son was directing this Habitat build, so they drove up from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to be a part of it.
“We drove along this street last week,” Walter commented. “It was just concrete foundations.” He looked down the street now lined with houses fully framed and watched volunteers hammering siding into place and crews lifting rafters to waiting hands for roofs. “Could this be the precursor to peace, this experience of learning to work together?” Walter asked.
- What vision in art or in action gives you a sense of what our world and human community can be?