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Reflections during mural unveiling
at Bishop Verot High School, Ft. Myers, FL
  April 30, 2004
 




Fr. J. Christian Beretta, O.S.F.S.,
Principal
Bishop Verot High School
 

I’d like to begin in Roseville, California.  It is fourth grade class in Saint Rose School; Sister Mary Brett is teaching us about the sacraments.  In slightly different terms perhaps, she made the point that a sacrament is an outward sign of an inward grace; something invisible and eternal that for a moment becomes glimpsed here in the material and passing world.  For example, I believe that Christ is present with us here and now, and at all times.  But when we celebrate the Eucharist, I believe his presence becomes tangible and visible, a unique gift of Christ to his people.  Like all great gifts, the Eucharist is the gift of the Divine Giver himself in the form of bread and wine that become his own body and blood.  Like all great gifts, the gift of the Eucharist meets a real need for fragile human beings needing reassurance that the invisible God is real and true, reminding us that Christ became one of us, and that he shares in our humanity.  And conversely, that we share in his divinity, and are called to do so more and more each day.

A fair question to ask on this occasion is: Can art be considered a sacrament?  If not one of the traditional “seven sacraments,” art can perhaps be considered sacramental in nature – offering a glimpse of the presence of the Living God in our midst and providing a visible expression of the invisible through human creativity.  And in the pattern of the Divine Creator, the artist places his work and his talent on display, knowing that men and women are free to draw their own inspirations, be their own critics, learn their own lessons… just as we are free to interpret God’s gift of creation, and to draw our own conclusions from this experience we call life.

Xavier Cortada has created this image for this school community.  It is the image of the namesake of our school, Bishop Augustin Verot, a man who lived boldly if not perfectly in demanding and troubling times.  I believe it is also an image our Bishop Verot family today: both who we are and where we are going.  The image tells many stories of the artist’s design, and will teach many more lessons that Xavier himself could not possibly have imagined.  This is the beautiful and deeply meaningful nature of the creative process: art, once experienced by others, invites a variety of interpretations and reactions.  Will we find it beautiful?  Will we be inspired?  Will we learn something of this man Augustin Verot, and in the process, of ourselves?  Might we even experience this image as a kind of sacrament – a glimpse of something important beyond a work of art and beyond the memory of one man?  There is risk indeed in this adventure of creating.  And by viewing it, we enter into this process together. 

 

*  *  *  *  *

 

In the first chapters of the Bible, the Book of Genesis teaches us that God created all that is, and that his creation is good.  Therefore, the material world in which we live – and the very body we possess – though passing back to the dust from which we came, is innately good and charged with the presence and artistic, creative genius of God.  We human beings are his finest masterpieces, created in the very image and likeness of God. 

Can there be a more important or foundational passage in all of Scripture?  Rarely has so much been said in so few words: the notion that we ourselves are a reflection of the Divine.  We are a work of art, simply by being who and what we are.  Simply put, in the eyes of God, we are his most beautiful and wondrous creation.

But the journey of self-discovery is not a solitary one.  We never stand alone, either in our own self-understanding, or in God’s eyes.  We are a people, not a random collection of individuals.  In tonight’s reading from the twelfth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul reminds us that we are the Body of Christ.  Although each of us reflects God, it is only when we are gathered together that the individual reflections, in an infinite variety, form the mosaic that is the truest image of God himself.  Each one of us has a unique role to play, and without even the meekest and most inconspicuous among us, the body is somehow diminished. 

Saint Francis de Sales, the patron saint of our school, echoed these thoughts 1600 years later when he wrote: “The church is a garden patterned with unlimited flowers.”  With an amazing array of colors, shapes and sizes, we have been placed in this beautiful garden in our own unique spot, at a unique time and place, nothing planted or taken out of season by the Master Gardener. 

And so it is not by coincidence, but by a sincere desire to answer God’s call, that we use this unveiling as the occasion to inaugurate the Hotchkiss Memorial Scholarship Fund, named in honor of a man who dedicated his time and resources so that those with less economic opportunity could receive the benefits of a Catholic education.  And so, with a gift of the late Mr. Hotchkiss to set us on our way, and with the proceeds from this evening as the first contributions, we strive from this day forward to provide opportunities and resources to needy and deserving families in Lee County who wish to join the Verot family. I cannot help but think that the daring and courageous bishop for whom this school is named would be pleased! 

The scholarship fund we establish tonight will specifically set out to increase economic and ethnic diversity on our campus.  Why be concerned about reaching out to new students when the resources of the school are already strained to meet the needs of those already here?  It is in order to become who and what God has called us to be: the Body of Christ, more accurately reflecting God’s mosaic of creation.  Just as Xavier’s work is made infinitely more beautiful by adding hundreds of varieties of color reflected in the tiles that compose the image we see, our school community will be enriched by reaching out to those in southwest Florida who for whatever reasons do not yet feel that they can join our family.  It is exciting and energizing to imagine what eyes may view this image five, ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred years from tonight… given the opportunity to do so because of the goals and direction we are establishing here tonight. 

To quote Saint Francis de Sales once again: “We must be who we are, and be that person well.”  This is our vocation: to be ourselves, our true selves.  And why not?  Our true calling, after all, never consists in becoming someone else, or becoming the person we want others to see; it is discovering who and what we already are.  Our Church is called Catholic – a word that means “universal.”  And tonight, we strive to see in this mosaic the school we are today, and the school we will become in the future, striving more and more to reflect the unlimited patterns and beauty of God’s garden.   In so doing, our community takes an important step toward embracing the presence of God in all people: becoming the Body of Christ, the image of God, for the entire world to see.  

 

 

Bishop Verot High School
5598 Sunrise Drive
Fort Myers, FL 33919
(239) 274-6700 FAX: (239) 936-1753
www.bvhs.org

 

 

This painting above was commissioned by Bishop Verot High School in Ft. Myers, Florida.  The painting was reproduced as a 15 foot tall glass mosaic which was unveiled in the school's courtyard on April 30, 2004.

Please, click here to see:

 

 

 

 


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Xavier Cortada has exhibited his works in museums, galleries, and cultural venues around the world and has pioneered the use of the Internet in collaborative art-making. The Miami-based Cuban-American artist, attorney, and activist has worked collaboratively with diverse groups across the United States, Latin America, Europe and Africa to create pro-social community murals and participant-driven art projects. 

Cortada has created murals for:

The White House
HBO
Hershey's
Nike
Global Health Council
World AIDS Conferences
Miami-Dade County Juvenile Courthouse
Miami-Dade Art in Public Places
Miami Art Museum

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