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Danielle Bean

Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean, a mother of eight, is editor-in-chief of Catholic Digest and Faith & Family. She is author of My Cup of Tea, Mom to Mom, Day to Day, and most recently Small Steps for Catholic Moms. Though she once struggled to separate her life and her …
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Rachel Balducci

Rachel Balducci
Rachel Balducci is married to Paul and they are the parents of five lively boys and one precious baby girl. She is the author of How Do You Tuck In A Superhero?, and is a newspaper columnist for the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. For the past four years, she has …
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Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey
Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com and the author of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms and The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa is also enjoys speaking around the country, is employed as webmaster for her parish web sites and spends time on various …
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Arwen Mosher

Arwen Mosher
Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their 5-year-old daughter, 3-year-old son, and 1-year-old twin boys. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site is Read My Posts

Rebecca Teti

Rebecca Teti
Rebecca Teti is married to Dennis and has four children (3 boys, 1 girl) who -- like yours no doubt -- are pious and kind, gorgeous, and can spin flax into gold. A Washington, DC, native, she converted to Catholicism while an undergrad at the U. Dallas, where she double-majored in …
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Robyn Lee

Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee is a 30-something, single lady, living in Connecticut in a small bungalow-style kit house built by her great uncle in the 1950s. She also conveniently lives next door to her sister, brother-in-law and six kids ... and two doors down are her parents. She received her undergraduate degree from …
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DariaSockey

DariaSockey
Daria Sockey is a freelance writer and veteran of the large family/homeschooling scene. She recently returned home from a three-year experiment in full time outside employment. (Hallelujah!) Daria authored several of the original Faith&Life; Catechetical Series student texts (Ignatius Press), and is currently a Senior Writer for Faith&Family; magazine. A latecomer …
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Kate Lloyd

Kate Lloyd
Kate Lloyd is a rising senior, and a political science major at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire. While not in school, she lives in Whitehall PA, with her mom, dad, five sisters and little brother. She needs someone to write a piece about how it's possible to …
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Lynn Wehner

Lynn Wehner
As a wife and mother, writer and speaker, Lynn Wehner challenges others to see the blessings that flow when we struggle to say "Yes" to God’s call. Control freak extraordinaire, she is adept at informing God of her brilliant plans and then wondering why the heck they never turn out that …
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Previous Cleaning House Home Message of Mercy Next

Behold the What?!

thoughts on knowing your limits

Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Friday, August 24, 2012 2:00 PM

You’ve probably heard about the sad (and it would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic) story of the well-meaning parishioner who repainted the fresco of Jesus and turned it into a muppet. Here’s the story.

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Elias Garcia Martinez has held pride of place in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza for more than 100 years.

The woman took her brush to it after years of deterioration due to moisture.

Cultural officials said she had the best intentions and hoped it could be properly restored.

Oh boy can I relate. Fortunately I’ve never ruined precious artwork in our church, but many a time have I destroyed a project with my good intentions to fix “just one more thing” and that’s the end of it. We have an annual Christmas festival to raise money for our boys’ school and all the parents provide a craft to sell. It’s my undoing. I always start out with high hopes only to have them dashed when I try one last adjustment on whatever my little project might be only to realize it’s ruined.

It might sound like I’m feeling sorry for myself but it’s been a very good little journey. For starters, doing these crafts is non-negotiable but the nice thing is we work in groups. So I’m learning to find my spot in the group that has a job I can handle. Maybe handpainting a trivet isn’t my thing, but I can glue cork on the back. This year I found a spot in the assembly line painting cheeks on wooden angel ornaments, It’s been very freeing for someone with my Type-A personality traits, to let go of my need to do everything just right. I recognize my limits and there is so much freedom in that.

Now for the fresco restoration, I am sending lots of prayers to that parish. I’m sure this is no laughing matter.

The fresco is not thought to be very valuable, but has a high sentimental value for local people.

Our correspondent says that to make matters worse, the local centre that works to preserve artworks had just received a donation from the painter’s granddaughter which they had planned to use to restore the original fresco.

May they find peace in their frustration!

Comments
6
Filed under church, crafts, peace, prayers

Comments

Page 1 of 1 pages

 
Posted by Rebecca Teti on Friday, Aug 24, 2012 9:59 PM (EDT):

Forgive me, but I **do** have to laugh (especially because of the inevitable internet meme jokes that have begun). Everyone has been on the receiving end of this kind of “help” at one time or another and this particular instance is hilarious. I picture Jesus himself laughing (presuming the lady truly meant well). 

I also see a metaphor for my own life: there’s the beauty of Christ we’re called to radiate to the world and then there’s the way it gets distorted by the fact that I’m kind of a jerk much of the time.

 
Posted by Anna on Friday, Aug 24, 2012 10:27 PM (EDT):

“there’s the beauty of Christ we’re called to radiate to the world and then there’s the way it gets distorted by the fact that I’m kind of a jerk much of the time”
This. ^  I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s perfect for me, though it makes me laugh and groan at the same time.  Yikes, what a picture I am so often!

 
Posted by Rachel Balducci on Saturday, Aug 25, 2012 9:14 AM (EDT):

Great point! Love that thought.

 
Posted by Anna on Sunday, Aug 26, 2012 11:19 PM (EDT):

I showed this to my mom and she agreed with the “smudged portrait” we present so often - but also pointed out that it’s a good reminder to recognize and love Jesus in the often very distorted picture presented by other people.

 
Posted by Terri on Saturday, Aug 25, 2012 3:26 PM (EDT):

Me, too! Or that my trying to do something good for Christ frequently ends up with my pride trying to get into the middle of it, and make it MINE.

 
Posted by JenH on Sunday, Aug 26, 2012 8:38 PM (EDT):

This reminds me of the “widow’s mite.”  There has to be a special place in heaven for people like this who give all they’ve got, even though there’s little or no real value in their “treasure” (or their “talent,” in this case). smile smile smile


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