Advent Tea with the Deacon
Join the conversation December 6, 13, and 20.
St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness (1604 - 1605)
Michelangelo Merisi, Caravaggio, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, Missouri)
Advent is just around the corner! We are starting a new liturgical church year on the First Sunday of Advent. Happy New Year!
Our Lectionary leaves Matthew behind and shares some stories from the Gospels according to Mark, Luke, and John. We will sandwich our conversation between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and spend time together on the Sundays of December 6, 13, and 20 at 1 p.m. This will still give us time to share our own stories around a few folks from the scriptures who call us into Advent: John and Mary for example. The Zoom invitation for our Tea is listed below.
Now, about the art in this article. As some may know, I am a curious fan of Caravaggio’s religious art. I have seen a lot his work in a few galleries and museums throughout Europe. Last spring I attended a clergy retreat near Kansas City Mo. Since I was so close to another work by Caravaggio, I made a short pilgrimage to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Fine Art and visited with Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, which has been part of their collection since the 1950’s.
I find it engaging that Caravaggio painted John the Baptist as a young man in the wilderness. Actually, it seems as though John is a teenager: a foreboding one at that. Most artists during the Counter-Reformation represented Saint John as a baby with the infant Jesus, or as an adult baptizing Jesus and announcing his ministry. I realize these traditional depictions of John can reference a direct purpose for his role in the Gospels. However, I find myself interested in the life John may have led while in the wilderness. This somehow slows me down in my anticipation for the manger and guides me to examine an inward path toward a spiritual journey into Advent.
Grace and Peace
Rev. Arthur W. Villarreal
Deacon