The collaboration between Don Alessio Fucile, an art expert, and the Shalom blog continues. Don Alessio will guide us in exploring the most important moments of the liturgical year through beautiful works of art that, besides inspiring wonder through their splendor, can help us better understand the Sacred Scriptures and Jesus’s message.
Don Alessio presents today the painter’s canvas Albert Von Keller. It is the 1866 painting “The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter,” housed in the The Neue Pinakothek in Munich.
A family tragedy in the Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Mark describes an episode centered on a family tragedy: a young girl is dying! Her father, Jairus, overcome with despair, decides to cling even to the faintest hope and runs off in search of Jesus. Perhaps he does not know who this man everyone is talking about is - a magician, an impostor, a saint; it does not matter. He begs him to do something for his little girl. Jesus goes to her and enters the house where death has become familiar and despair pulses from the walls. Addressing those present, he says: “The girl is not dead, but asleep.” This is the Christian meaning of death: not the end of everything, but a peaceful rest in God, leading to an awakening in the light of a new day. With authority, Jesus approaches the deathbed and says: “Girl, I say to you: get up!”
Von Keller’s work: colors and emotions
In Von Keller’s work, the figure that immediately draws attention is Jesus himself: the red of his tunic, the color of passion and love, stands out among the remaining colors on the artist’s palette. He gently takes the little girl’s hand; she is lying on a wooden support, as her body had already been prepared for burial. He lifts her up while she, with a sleepy gaze, is waking up.
The exceptional nature of the event is amplified by the reactions and gestures of those present. Jairus and his wife, off to the side, embrace, stunned. Others, their eyes wide with amazement, turn toward the young girl and Jesus. One woman puts her hands in her hair, another rests her head on the foot of the bed, while a third raises her arm toward the girl who has been miraculously revived.
The message of faith and hope
The key phrase of the entire episode is Jesus’ invitation to the girl’s father: “Do not be afraid; just have faith!” At the foot of the bed are laurel wreaths, a plant that symbolizes eternal life conquering death. “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Do you believe this?” Jesus asks Martha, who was weeping over the death of her brother Lazarus. There are three wreaths, a number that points to the Trinity.
At that now-defeated tomb, life, Eternal Life, is being celebrated. Jesus wants to free humanity from death. It is a mystery we experience in ourselves, in our family members, in the people we love, and in the things we care about. There is also a death of things, animals, and plants. Jesus tells you today: “I created you for life; try to make your life a masterpiece!” The fact that we are alive is sometimes such an obvious reality, clogged with worries that rob us of the joy of living. Life must be sung, just as the psalmist does so wonderfully: “You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. In the evening there is weeping, but in the morning, joy!” Life also consists of dark moments, trials, illnesses, old age, and losses, but these things do not have the final word; they are the things of evening. If we stopped only at the evening moment, we would have many reasons to feel sad and nostalgic, but the psalmist says that evening weeping, if you know how to wait, turns into morning song: “In the evening there is weeping, but in the morning, joy!” Your task is to have hope, to believe that things can get better. You can hope for a better tomorrow: “I have struggled so much today; surely tomorrow will be a better day.” You must never lose this hope! Remember, when you go through the next difficult moment, the next evening, the next darkness, you must know how to wait, because sooner or later the night will end.
What can you do to sing of life? To celebrate life, you must love; do not jealously hide what you have, share it. If you are young, share your youth; if you are elderly, your wisdom. If you have a talent, share it; if you have a musical gift, make it available, and then the song of life emerges. Best wishes to you and your riches, so that they do not end up rotting in your safes and in your heart, but bring a smile to those around you. Thank you for your attention.
