The Mission
To restore the Church’s encounter with God through Beauty.
WHY THIS MATTERS
For most of the Church’s history, sacred art has shaped the Christian imagination. It has supported prayer and made God’s presence tangible before words were even necessary.
BEAUTY GIVES FORM TO WORSHIP
Sacred art has never been an accessory to the Church’s life. It has always been formative and primary.
Every church interior communicates and this is never neutral. It either elevates the heart to God or it does not.
Sacred art, architecture, and light together can shape how faith is received. They prepare the heart to accept the proclamation of the Gospel and the sacraments.
When the Church’s visual language does not support what she proclaims, it makes faith more difficult. Over time, this weakens the Church’s witness.
The beauty of sacred art aids in the restoration of faith. It gives form to our worship.
BEAUTY AS PREPARATION
Many people today desire God, but our culture makes this difficult. Constant distraction leaves little room for silence or true prayer.
Because of this, the Christian faith can often feel distant or abstract.
Sacred art helps restore the possibility for the attention and the stillness that allows the heart to open again.
Sacred art does not replace the vital role of preaching or the sacraments, but it is a preparation of the heart to receive them.
BEAUTY AND RESPONSIBILITY
For all of these reasons sacred art carries a great responsibility; to guard, preserve and communicate the authentic teaching of the Church.
Sacred art is central to the Church’s evangelizing mission, creating a visual theology for her witness and mission in the world.
My work exists to serve this reality and my mission is in response to this great need. Sacred art is not simply decoration. It participates in the Church’s witness. When approached with clarity and faithfulness, it makes the invisible visible and helps open hearts to an authentic encounter with God and the life of faith.
“Artistic beauty . . . a sort of echo of the Spirit of God, is a symbol pointing to the mystery, an invitation to seek out the face of God made visible in Jesus of Nazareth.”
- Saint John Paul II, Ecclesia in Europa 60