Sacred Spaces: Part Three
The Barren Cross
by Mark DeRaud
To protest Catholic use of images, a Reformation artist printed a woodcut, depicting Catholics obscenely licking a naked corpse. This was an official Protestant depiction of their Lord’s Supper.
Today, we commonly imagine our Protestant cross depicting the Resurrected Christ while we tell ourselves Catholics don’t know of the resurrection because they only know the Crucifix.
A Catholic should well respond, “What was your Christ resurrected from? There is no hint of Him suffering and dying evident on your cross. It is bloodless.” Not only is His person cleansed from our cross so is our cross cleansed of its history, for the same mob that circulated the woodcut imprint tore Christ off the cross.
What shall we think of our residual discomfort with this crucifix? Our sterile cross is, historically, a symbol of disunity and not just towards Catholics. All our isolated denominations have one. I suspect it symbolizes a disfigured hierarchy of values; abstracted truths over unity in The One who is Truth.
The crucifixion remains a symbol of contention. Whatever our disagreements, I suppose this should not be one of them.
My experience is that my Catholic family is innately wired towards the visual, and they have much to tell us regarding the potential power of the visual in sacred space. If we listen, we can draw closer. If we can draw closer we may well rediscover the future in the archives of the ancient.
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Click this facebook event link for details on the Art Hop Showcase of Mark’s work, Thurs. Aug. 6.
Mark DeRaud is a full time artist and muralist living and working in Fresno, California. He completed massive murals for Holy Spirit Catholic Church in the same city (18’ X 37’and 7’-14’ X 100’). He has a degree in Biblical Studies from Westmont College where he emphasized early church doctrinal development. He served as a professor of art at Fresno Pacific University. He and his wife Wendy developed the seminar Art n’ Soul to bring together Christian spirituality and creativity. mederaud@sbcglobal.net
Tags: Catholic, mark deraud, Ministry Partner Blogs, sacred space, the Cross