Light of the World, Light of the world
Christ said he was the "light of the world", adding that those who follow him "do not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12). Indeed, the Prologue of the fourth Gospel states that "in him was life and the life was the light of men" (John 1,4). Therefore, light is among the fundamental Christian metaphors for salvation, and from the very beginning the Church has characterized the experience of believers as "enlightenment".
This is the meaning of the inaugural exhibition of the new Ecumenical Center for Art and Spirituality "Mount Tabor" in Barga. The Center, founded by a Christian monastic community, whose church, in Orleans Massachusetts, is dedicated to the Savior revealed as light in his Transfiguration, aims to be a place where all those who seek Christ can discover in themselves "the light of life" - a Mount Tabor where everyone can contemplate the glory of the Lord in nature, in art and in monastic brotherhood.
The artists featured in the exhibition - Filippo Rossi and Susie Kanaga - are contemplatives who express their faith in abstract forms and gemstone colors. He, Italian and Roman Catholic, she, American and Protestant, together respond to Christ who calls women and men of every people to share in his life who is light. In turn, in this exhibition, Rossi and Kanaga share with us their experience of Christ and his communion of love with the Father, "so that our joy may be complete" (1 John 1,4).
The key words are "light", "life", "love" and "joy." Neither Rossi nor Kanaga express themselves in a figurative style, because these four words belong to a kingdom in which women and men no longer see God as in a mirror, according to the flesh, but spiritually, as God himself sees (1 Corinthians 13:12). Christ, calling himself "Light" and "Life" and "Truth" In fact, he taught Christians to look for him in forms that do not it is only those of this world who develop a capacity which must then be perfected in Eucharistic adoration and in service to the poor. The gold leaf and the vibrant tones of the images of Rossi and Kanaga - signs of luminous joy and vital love - in fact, they prepare those who see them to adore God and serve their neighbor, in the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection.
