"Say What?" Monday Catechism Series #13 - Why Should I Paint?

I believe the Catechism is THE tool for the re-evangelizing of secular society and the renewal of Catholic culture. Every Monday this epic mini-series will share a gem from our Catechism of the Catholic Church that is interesting, relevant, or remarkable. _________________________________________________________________________

Is art a useless hobby? Is there a higher meaning and purpose to finger painting? Is Bob Ross in heaven?  The Catechism explains that art is a participation in the divine. There is hope yet for the happy trees...

2501  Created "in the image of God,"²⁹⁴ man also expresses the truth of his relationship with God the Creator by the beauty of his artistic works. Indeed, art is a distinctively human form of expression; beyond the search for the necessities of life which is common to all living creatures, art is a freely given superabundance of the human being's inner riches. Arising from talent given by the Creator and from man's own effort, art is a form of practical wisdom, uniting knowledge and skill,²⁹⁵ to give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight or hearing. To the extent that it is inspired by truth and love of beings, art bears a certain likeness to God's activity in what he has created. Like any other human activity, art is not an absolute end in itself, but is ordered to and ennobled by the ultimate end of man.²⁹⁶

+JMJ

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