O Come, O Come, Emmanuel…God-With-Us
by Carol Zinn, SSJ - LCWR President-Elect
Perhaps it is because Henry Ossawa Tanner comes from Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, in particular) that I am drawn to his art. Perhaps it is because his depiction of religious art is world-renowned. Perhaps it is because he lived at a time when his race and his profession were held against him in this country and he had to find a way to be an “American artist” by going to Paris. Perhaps it is because his journey speaks to the journeys of so many of us -- moving patiently and faithfully from clarity to clarity; paying attention to light as well as shadows; looking for the most poignant moment in which God dwells and then savoring it; noticing our heart-places where God visits and announces a message of new life, birth, invitation; presenting for all the world to see and experience those Incarnational movements that beg a response from us. Or perhaps it is because Tanner’s Annunciation captures not only the Advent season but the advents of our lives, all year long. (continued inside)
