February 19th, 2024
I often ask myself why I choose to make art. As a Catholic, I also wonder why I choose to make art that aligns with my faith and its teachings. I believe I choose to make art as a Catholic artist because of what Jesus says to his disciples in today’s Gospel.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples about the Day of Judgment and how the righteous will be separated from the unrighteous on that day. Jesus describes the righteous ones as the ones who fed Him when he was hungry, welcomed Him when he was a stranger, clothed Him when He was naked, cared for Him when He was sick, and visited Him when He was imprisoned. Jesus said that the righteous performed these deeds because they saw Him “in the least brothers of mine.” As a Catholic artist, one of my missions in this life is to use my art to introduce and invite God into the lives of those who desperately need Him, including my own.
In my own life, God uses art as a conduit to speak to me and bring me closer to Him. God has spoken to me through songs that remind me that He is holding my hand through the storms of life. God has spoken to me through prose and poems that remind me to see His beauty not through the extraordinary, but in the ordinary mundanity of life. God has spoken to me through musicals to remind me of how important it is to not let my hardships blind me to the suffering of others. Art has been the refuge in my life where I have found refuge in God and where, in my vulnerability, He finds and heals me.
During this Lenten season, and even after, let us open our hearts to the Lord and ask Him how we may use our art as extensions of His love and mercy. Let us ask the Lord to use our art to reach those who are considered “the least” in our world today. May we allow God in and let His words be our inspiration, our “Spirit and life” as the psalm says today. And may He give us the tools to create beautiful art that will bring us, and those who receive our art, closer to Him.
Vince Marie Cuison is a writer, singer, and musician based in Queens, NY and Northern CA. You can find out more about her here.