4 December 2021
Optional Memorial of Saint John of Damascus, priest, religious, doctor of the Church
Again we hear Jesus speak to us about the mercy that moves His heart. This time, He tells us that it moves Him to desire that others be so moved out of spiritual love for those whom He loves: “…so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” And then Jesus shows Himself to be the master of the harvest and sends out the Twelve disciples to do what He does: heal the sick and lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons! Our Lord is on the move and wants to move in us that we may go with Him in His mission of bringing salvation to the world.
Today’s saint was filled with love for this Lord who has become Incarnate among us to save us, and who wants us to join Him. In the midst of a conflict which shook the Church of the eighth century, St. John pointed to the work of the Incarnate Lord. Although from at least the time of the catacombs in the second and third centuries, Christians had used art to foster their devotion to God and to the saints, in the eighth century, debate erupted about whether the commandment against graven images meant there could be no sacred art in Christian churches. Some began to smash statues and to destroy icons, and to seek imperial support for their actions.
St. John was a monk and theologian, and in his writings he shared the fruit of his prayer about this debate. The Israelites were commanded not to attempt to draw images of the God whom no one could see and live. However, in the fulness of time, this God had deigned to become visible, to take on our flesh and blood in Christ Jesus. Since Jesus is the image of the invisible God, we can indeed make images of Him, much as we make images of others whose greatness and love we want to remember and be moved by. Through the intercession of St. John, may we rejoice in the way sacred art moves us to contemplate Jesus and His saints more. And may we be moved to let our Lord turn us into images of His love for the world, and to send us into His harvest.