Between Celebrity & Art

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

Readings: Acts 10: 34, 37-43; Psalm 117 (118): 1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Colossians 3: 1-4; John 20: 1-9

Picture: Amber Kipp on Unsplash

My dear friends, if given a choice, which would you rather be, a celebrity or an artist? Celebrity is just another word for fame. Which is why today, through the power of social media, even a cute cat can quickly become a celebrity. On the other hand, although some artists may be famous, it is said that what makes a work of art is not so much its popularity, as its ability to mediate encounters with truth. For instance, we may think of how a piece of music, or a good movie can move us. Whereas celebrity is defined by fame, art is related to truth.

I mention this because, judging from the first reading, already in New Testament times, Jesus was actually quite famous. Such that, even when speaking to a Roman centurion, in the coastal town of Caesarea, Peter can confidently assume that he must have heard… about Jesus. And yet, on its own, the Lord’s celebrity isn’t enough to satisfy the hungry heart. If it were, Cornelius wouldn’t need to send messengers to fetch Peter from Joppa, a journey taking four days, round trip.

Nor would the disciples in the gospel be running around so frantically. Of course, grief is probably what drives Mary, and Peter, and the disciple Jesus loved. But we need to consider the nature of their loss. To remember that, for them, the crucifixion of Jesus didn’t just occasion the death of a loved one. They were his closest followers. They had staked their whole lives on what he taught. And he had claimed equality with God. Yet the scriptures call accursed anyone who hangs on a tree (cf Dt 21:23). More than any ordinary grief, what the disciples are experiencing is a profound crisis of truth and meaning. The kind of thing that drives some people to suicide, or to addictions and obsessions that are simply more prolonged forms of suicide.

Which is why the gospel account is so significant. Although the Risen Christ still hasn’t shown himself, already at his empty tomb the disciples encounter Truth with a capital T. Truth found in the divine work of art that is the life of Christ. Who, despite facing stiff opposition, had shown the depth of his love by going about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil. And even after they had killed him, the Lord’s love proved stronger than death. Truth more enduring than propaganda. Such that even for the disciples to linger at the painful place where his body had been laid is enough to restore in them the light of faith. And to bestow on them power to become what Peter becomes for Cornelius and his household: courageous witnesses to Truth.

A people whose very life becomes God’s work of art. The kind of life described in the second reading. Not the attention-craving existence of the rich and famous. But the self-emptying life hidden with Christ in God. A life that often seems foolish by worldly standards. Yet its wisdom will be made manifest when Christ is revealed in all his glory.

Sisters and brothers, our world has no shortage of celebrities. What it needs are more witnesses to Truth. How might we allow God to mould us into better artists this Easter?