Category Archives: Painting and Drawing

“Anticipating” Luke: 8:1-3

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Painting: Ronald Raab,CSC "Anticipating"

Painting: Ronald Raab,CSC
“Anticipating”

I painted this piece in acrylics in one of my first classes this summer. The exercise was to paint from a photo that was upside down. This method frees the brain not to paint an eye or mouth, but to just begin to see the shapes and shadows. Even though this is one of my first efforts, I really like this woman.

I see in her Mary Magdalene before she meets Jesus. She is haunted by her past and the seven demons she carries within her soul. She waits for healing. This is today’s gospel story in acrylics.

Her eyes anticipate the healing gifts of Christ Jesus. She in fact received what she was anticipating by becoming the “Disciple of the Disciples”, the first to proclaim the Resurrection of Christ Jesus.

“At his feet weeping” Luke 7: 36-50

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Drawing: Ronald Raab, CSC "At his feet weeping"

Drawing: Ronald Raab, CSC
“At his feet weeping”

A woman in need heard that Jesus was dining at a Pharisee’s house. She approached him with an alabaster jar of oil and washed his feet. She dried his feet with her hair.

This drawing is the second drawing I finished last week. After not picking up a pencil in over thirty years, this stern woman appeared who seemed to long for Jesus. Her need, her anger about her past and her longing to be healed is written on her face. This is a depiction of her desire for Jesus, before she buys  the expensive oil, before she discovers Jesus dining with the Pharisees, before she bends down at the feet of the Master.

From our own longing for God, we hear today’s gospel and we too ache to be at the feet of Christ who overcomes all things even within our hearts and lives.

Luke 7:11-17 “Young man, I say to you, arise”

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Drawing by: Ronald Raab, CSC Title: "I tell you, arise"

Drawing by: Ronald Raab, CSC
Title: “I tell you, arise”

This drawing depicts the young man coming back to life in today’s gospel, Luke 7:11-17. He was the only son a poor widow. The sorrowful mother has great faith that Jesus can raise up her son from death. She has no cultural power or influence, yet Jesus listens to her request and discovers her faith. This image depicts the fresh face of new life coming out of the darkness of lifelessness. He represents all of us who long for new life from within our hearts and minds. In the face of Jesus, all things are possible for us.

We all long to be brought back to life when grief strikes us down or when our child loses hope. We long for new life when our shame eats away at our self-worth, when we have internalized the put-downs from other people. We ache for a new view of ourselves when our parents separate or when household violence makes a permanent home in our emotions. We long for new life when depression overcomes our days at school and family life at home. We long for a new perspective when we feel our lives have not turned out the way we had planned. We long for new life coming home from war and leaving the violence and rage behind us. We long for new life when we lose our job, our health or the illusion of our control. We really long for the life that God has for us in the life that is ours and not the life that we think we should have.

Jesus heals the young man at his mother’s request. Jesus comes to us all in unexpected moments and ways to heal us beyond our imagining.

Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows

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Drawing by: Ronald Raab, CSC "Mother of Sorrows"

Drawing by: Ronald Raab, CSC
“Mother of Sorrows”

Monday September 15, 2014

Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, Patroness of the Congregation of Holy Cross: John 19:25-27

Today is the feast day of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Mary, mother of grief and sorrow stood next to the suffering of her son. We are called to stand next to the Body of Christ that still suffers, all people in need.

I sketched this woman on Saturday afternoon to prepare for our feast day. This woman is the mother of all who suffer. Her mouth and tears reveal to us this profound message that she cannot contain her pain and that of her children. She is the mother of a murdered child in a neighborhood in Chicago. She is the mother of a twelve-year old caught in human trafficking on the Interstate 5 corridor on the west coast. She is the mother of a meth addict in Atlanta or the grieving mother who just lost her child by a drunk driver in mid-America. This mother bends down to hold the forehead of her child as he vomits over the toilet in the nighttime. She holds her newborn grand-baby suffering from colic. This mother weeps for people in all generations, for all people, no matter our ethnic background or the color of our skin. Mothers know grief and loss and we all look to God to take our pain away.

This sketch could also be interpreted in another way. Her mouth is forming an “Amen” in the summary of a sung spiritual, the last note of her wailing in faith. Her tears become a combined expression of fear and grief as well as fulfillment and hope. This mother gives her complete life to her children and her complete emotions to Christ Jesus. She is at the same time exhausted and yet profoundly full of joy.

Mary, Mother of Sorrows, received the promises of her Son, Jesus. Her suffering is redeemed in the face of God. Mary holds our depression, loneliness and isolation, our wars and violence, our addictions and mental illness, our hopelessness and even our despair. All people will be redeemed in the Cross of the Crucified, in the promise of Jesus Christ who rose from the dead.

Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

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Painting by Ronald Raab, CSC Title: "Abandon"

Painting by Ronald Raab, CSC
Title: “Abandon”

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Sunday September 14, 2014.

I started painting and drawing lessons this past summer from Lisa Lundquist, a Sacred Heart parishioner. I painted this image of Christ last Saturday for this Sunday’s celebration of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Learning to express myself in art is an energizing experience for me since I have not picked up a pencil or a paint brush in over thirty years.

I am just beginning to create art. I will post my drawings and paintings on this blog to help tell the stories of people who are marginalized and who most need God. You will notice on this blog that all of the photos of people are in black and white and the photos of Christ are in color. This is intentional, to show the vibrant face of Christ in my work. This picture of Christ is created with acrylic paint. I have never used acrylics until a couple of months ago. This is a new and energizing form of story telling for me and I hope the art will help us all break open our stories in Christ Jesus.