Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
(Matthew 5:9)

On Thursday, August 15, while attending the ELCA Churchwide Assembly as a visitor, I went with a group of the spouses of ELCA bishops on a tour of ministries and neighborhoods within the city of Pittsburgh. The last stop on the tour was St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in the blue-collar neighborhood of Millvale. At one time there were 50,000 Croatian immigrants living in this section of the city. Many of them worked in the coal mining industry.

In 1937, the parish priest at St. Nicholas Church commissioned a little known Croatian artist, Maxo Vanka, to come to Pittsburgh and paint the interior walls of the church that had been bare for the post-World War I years. According to Vanka's notes, the priest gave him strict instructions as to what images to paint on the front wall surrounding the altar, but on the back, the sides, and the dome, he was given artistic freedom to paint as he wished. The result of this highly unusual contract is an extraordinary set of murals that cover 11,000 square feet of space and interweave traditional Slavic images of biblical faith and redemption with a powerful message of social justice and the futility of war.

For me, one of the most striking murals paralleled the painting of the crucifixion. Whereas the mural of the crucifixion shows a Roman centurion with spear in hand ready to stab the side of Jesus, this parallel mural shows a World War I soldier piercing the heart of Christ with a bayonet. The soldier thinks he is killing an enemy only to discover that he is killing Christ in disguise. This particular painting drives home the Christian belief that every person is created in the image of God and that human life is extremely precious.

What a treasure tucked into a wonderful city! I give thanks to God for artists of the Christian tradition who help us make the biblical proclamation of peace our own.

Let us pray… Creator God, you create co-creators and artists who help to make the gospel more graphic to our eyes, hearts, and minds. Continue to bless and inspire new artists to follow in the tradition of Maxo Vanka. Amen.

Contributed by Carol
Monday September 2, 2013
Liturgical Year C: Week 40
Liturgical Color: Green
Sunday Gospel reading: Proper 17
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost